Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Purchases New Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 205,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $16,803,000 after acquiring an additional 5,774 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $605,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $841,000. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $9,651,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,141,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MET traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $77.60. 2,410,198 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,402,162. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business's 50 day moving average is $77.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.08.

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.