MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Strategic Planning Group LLC

Strategic Planning Group LLC lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 15.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,505 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,377,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 678.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,000,000 after acquiring an additional 250,402 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth approximately $7,012,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $120,661,000 after acquiring an additional 293,925 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,304,000 after acquiring an additional 240,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in MetLife by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,088,000 after buying an additional 86,091 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MET shares. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Argus lifted their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.08.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1 %

MET opened at $72.07 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $53.04 and a 12 month high of $74.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.99.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.