APG Asset Management N.V. Purchases 50,700 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 208.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 74,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 50,700 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in MetLife by 54.9% in the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after acquiring an additional 131,538 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 2,313.7% in the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,772,000 after acquiring an additional 100,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its stake in MetLife by 38.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after acquiring an additional 8,440 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $82.48 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a PEG ratio of 0.66 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 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $82.99. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.98.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.23.

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.