Tredje AP fonden Has $48.75 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Tredje AP fonden increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 19.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 607,132 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 98,079 shares during the period. Tredje AP fonden owned about 0.09% of MetLife worth $48,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in MetLife by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 34,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,820,000 after buying an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in MetLife by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 328,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,814,000 after buying an additional 14,582 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MET traded down $1.95 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.00. 4,383,241 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,390,276. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays raised their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price target (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.09.

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.