Northern Trust Corp Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.02% of MetLife worth $577,434,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,901,000 after buying an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,869,000 after acquiring an additional 290,734 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MET traded up $0.15 on Monday, hitting $77.96. 704,874 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,384,816. The company has a market capitalization of $52.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.45.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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 dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.46.

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.