EFG International AG Acquires Shares of 8,759 MetLife, Inc. $MET

EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 8,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $741,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 187.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth $444,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

MetLife Trading Down 0.3%

MetLife stock opened at $96.21 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.74. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $61.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is 45.40%.

MetLife 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.