Bank & Trust Co Invests $39,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 550 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $558,460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in MetLife during the first quarter valued at $131,456,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $268,090,000 after acquiring an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.77.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MET traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.58. The stock had a trading volume of 4,156,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,374,176. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.85 and its 200 day moving average is $71.25. The firm has a market cap of $48.77 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

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.