Two Sigma Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 632.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,518 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,218 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional raised its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $259,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.91. 1,264,242 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,402,424. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $77.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.46.

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.