Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Buys 214,367 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 53.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 618,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 214,367 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.09% of MetLife worth $45,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during 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 buying an additional 131,538 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $49,088,000 after buying an additional 86,091 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in MetLife by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.12, a PEG ratio of 0.66 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $76.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.01.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.08.

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.