MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in MetLife by 5.9%, owning approximately 14.1 million shares valued at over $1.13 billion, according to its recent SEC filing.
• MetLife's stock has been rated with an average of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $96.00, although there have been varying opinions from different brokerages.
• The company announced a $3 billion stock repurchase program as a sign of confidence in its undervalued shares and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share.

Wellington Management Group LLP trimmed its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,102,384 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 891,004 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 2.10% of MetLife worth $1,132,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,597,000 after purchasing an additional 36,177 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $570,816,000 after purchasing an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $535,568,000 after purchasing an additional 236,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,462,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $518,877,000 after purchasing an additional 87,344 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.3%

MET traded up $0.2560 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.9760. 2,666,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,611,318. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.60. The firm has a market cap of $52.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 38.47%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays raised their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.60.

MetLife Company 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.