Vise Technologies Inc. Acquires Shares of 25,844 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,844 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,187,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at about $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $941,792,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 12.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $293,287,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of MET opened at $94.44 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.41 and a 200 day moving average of $82.17. The firm has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors 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 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

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.