Quantinno Capital Management LP Buys 6,853 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,275 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,853 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in MetLife were worth $16,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in 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 valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $81.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock's 50 day moving average is $77.02 and its 200-day moving average is $81.18. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.

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