Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,179 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $293,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 3.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MetLife by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,090,000 after buying an additional 700,788 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $256,468,000 after acquiring an additional 104,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 valued at $205,544,000 after acquiring an additional 108,739 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $74.69. The company had a trading volume of 843,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,349,962. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $72.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.54. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $79.34. The firm has a market cap of $53.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus increased their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

MetLife 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.