Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 130.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,772 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,785 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 1.4%

MetLife stock traded down $1.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.93. 2,661,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,399,316. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.70 and a 200 day moving average of $81.06. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

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.