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

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,313 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE MET traded up $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $80.19. The company had a trading volume of 840,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,396,785. The company's fifty day moving average is $76.97 and its 200-day moving average is $81.17. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MET shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.69.

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.