MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,575,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 562,320 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG owned about 0.37% of MetLife worth $210,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in MetLife by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in 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 research note on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.69.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2%

MetLife stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $80.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 797,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,396,467. 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 stock has a market cap of $53.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.97 and a 200-day moving average of $81.17. 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 issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $18.57 billion for 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 revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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.