MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Buys 29,121 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 771,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,121 shares during the quarter. MetLife accounts for 2.1% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned 0.11% of MetLife worth $57,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in MetLife by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,090,000 after purchasing an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,468,000 after purchasing an additional 104,116 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in MetLife by 9.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 240,564 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in MetLife by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.16 on Tuesday, hitting $70.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,401,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,394,682. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.13 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.23.

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.