GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 41.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,665 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 678.4% during 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 bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in MetLife by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,053,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $2.84 on Monday, reaching $67.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,628,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,355,574. The company has a market capitalization of $48.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.91 and a 52-week high of $79.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.25. 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 (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.77.

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.