Trivium Point Advisory LLC Acquires New Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Trivium Point Advisory LLC bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $136,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $94,605,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $1,951,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.07.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1%

MetLife stock opened at $97.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.40%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About MetLife

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.