MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 293,925 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.25% of MetLife worth $120,661,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $444,205,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 499.6% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,073,174 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $230,257,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393,875 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $234,761,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in MetLife by 806.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $100,152,000 after buying an additional 1,429,840 shares during the last quarter. 88.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded down $0.64 on Friday, hitting $72.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,724,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,340,563. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.69, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.66. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.01.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

MetLife 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.