Investment Management Corp of Ontario Has $1.36 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,605 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,400 shares during the quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in 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 buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.69.

MetLife Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $1.23 on Wednesday, hitting $79.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,561,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,406,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $76.97 and a 200 day moving average of $81.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.