Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Buys Shares of 10,271 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 10,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $841,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.6%

MET stock opened at $80.42 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a PEG 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.15.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

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 given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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 decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.69.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MET? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.