Performance Wealth Partners LLC Invests $605,000 in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Performance Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 7,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at $293,287,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,206,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $96.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.07.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.