Ethic Inc. Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 108,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,313 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its stake in MetLife by 23.1% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $222,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in MetLife by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,575,557 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $210,887,000 after acquiring an additional 562,320 shares in the last quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $1,693,000. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $257,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.69.

MetLife Trading Up 3.5%

MET traded up $2.72 on Monday, reaching $80.57. 3,536,107 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,403,771. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.18. The company has a market cap of $54.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. 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 payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding 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 management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.