MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Acquired by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates Inc. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 59.7%, owning 100,491 shares worth approximately $8 million at the end of the recent quarter.
• MetLife reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.02 for the last quarter, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $2.32, and its revenue of $17.34 billion was below analyst expectations.
• The company announced a $3 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the shares are undervalued, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 59.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 37,581 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 148,994 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,199,000 after purchasing an additional 3,758 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,454 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on 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 restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET traded up $0.2560 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $78.9760. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,666,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,611,318. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05. 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's 50-day moving average is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.60.

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

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

MetLife Company 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.