Virtu Financial LLC Invests $1.36 Million in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in MetLife by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after acquiring an additional 100,782 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after acquiring an additional 108,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $79.25 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $79.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.48.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research reports. Argus increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

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.