Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Purchases 14,900 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife, acquiring an additional 14,900 shares, bringing its total holdings to 101,642 shares valued at approximately $8.19 million.
• MetLife's most recent quarterly earnings report showed EPS of $2.02, missing estimates by $0.30 and reflecting a 2.7% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, representing a 2.8% yield, with a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 17.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,642 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 14,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $8,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of MET opened at $79.88 on Monday. The company's fifty day moving average is $79.68 and its 200 day moving average is $78.08. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.18.

About MetLife

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.

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