Global Retirement Partners LLC Invests $1.25 Million in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 14,832 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake 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 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 buying an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $293,287,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in MetLife by 133.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,098,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $219,136,000 after buying an additional 1,771,689 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $96.73 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.72. The company has a market capitalization of $62.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $100.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. 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 currently 45.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.07.

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.