Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 22,516 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,905,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in MetLife by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,742,000 after acquiring an additional 46,469 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in MetLife by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $56,712,000 after acquiring an additional 14,515 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $81,494,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 195.8% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 22,016 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.64.

MetLife Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $93.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.08. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $60.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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