MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Unison Advisors LLC

Unison Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in MetLife by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,090,000 after purchasing an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,468,000 after purchasing an additional 104,116 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,017,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,361,339. The firm has a market cap of $49.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.69 and a 200-day moving average of $71.24.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.