Versor Investments LP Purchases Shares of 37,049 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Versor Investments LP has acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc., buying 37,049 shares valued at approximately $2.975 million, making MetLife 0.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Analyst ratings for MetLife vary, with targets ranging from $91.00 to $97.00 and an average rating of “Moderate Buy”, indicating favorable sentiment from most analysts.
• MetLife is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share on September 9th, representing a 2.9% dividend yield and showing a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 37,049 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,975,000. MetLife accounts for approximately 0.5% of Versor Investments LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth $312,946,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock traded up $0.2560 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.9760. 2,666,672 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,410,005. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $77.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.60. The stock has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife's payout ratio is 38.47%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

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.