MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,819 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 35,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter valued at $1,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MET. Argus raised 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. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.77.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $70.77. 1,084,366 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,346,198. The stock has a market cap of $50.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $79.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.25. 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 (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.