Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 14,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,261,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $941,792,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $293,287,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock opened at $94.44 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The firm has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.19. 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 (NYSE:MET) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Mizuho raised 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. Barclays increased their target price 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. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

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.