Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $88.91 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,085,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 67,032 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.16% of MetLife worth $88,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 worth $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.20. 840,291 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,396,785. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $76.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. 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 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). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.69.

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.