Raymond James Financial Inc. Has $110.18 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 8.7%, owning a total of 1,372,237 shares valued at approximately $110.18 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Following recent earnings results, MetLife reported an EPS of $2.02, missing expectations by $0.30, with revenue falling 2.7% year-over-year.
• MetLife's Board of Directors approved a $3.00 billion stock buyback plan, signaling confidence in the company's valuation, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share.

Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,372,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 110,025 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.20% of MetLife worth $110,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $312,946,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.6%

MET opened at $77.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $51.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.60. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.

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