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Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Sells 6,118 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

MetLife logo with Finance background

Key Points

  • Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd sold 6,118 shares of MetLife, Inc., reducing its holdings by 46.2% to 7,111 shares, valued at $571,000 at the end of the 1st quarter.
  • Despite the sale, several other investors increased their stakes in MetLife, with hedge funds and institutional investors collectively owning 94.99% of the company's stock.
  • MetLife's board has authorized a $3.00 billion share buyback program, signaling confidence in the stock's valuation, and the company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675.
  • MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by September 1st.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 46.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,111 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,118 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in MetLife were worth $571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in 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 valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MetLife by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,869,000 after purchasing an additional 290,734 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 1.7%

MetLife stock traded up $1.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $76.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,039,485 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,353,149. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $51.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.59. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

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

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 price target (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.09.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MetLife

About MetLife

(Free Report)

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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