Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Acquires 3,895 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 3,895 shares during the quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in MetLife were worth $2,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.52. The company had a trading volume of 4,359,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,411,200. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.50 and a 200-day moving average of $81.02. The firm has a market cap of $52.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.17.

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.