GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 591 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 17.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,275,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after purchasing an additional 746,643 shares during the period. Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $244,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 1,279.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,187 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 2,956 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 50.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,952 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Argus raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.08.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE MET opened at $69.86 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.79. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.97 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.