Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 1,481 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 126,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,481 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 250,402 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in MetLife by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after buying an additional 293,925 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in MetLife by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in MetLife by 13.1% in 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. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on MET shares. 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 research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.23.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $72.44. 3,219,743 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,370,210. The company has a market capitalization of $51.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.70 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.04 and a 200 day moving average of $70.36.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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