MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 456,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65,763 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $30,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after buying an additional 293,925 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of MetLife by 13.1% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1 %

MET opened at $71.26 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.65. The firm has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.92.

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.