Cibc World Market Inc. Buys Shares of 43,189 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 43,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,654,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio grew its position in MetLife by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $81,494,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,182,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,905,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,770,000 after purchasing an additional 18,151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $96.62 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The company has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.60.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen boosted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $102.21.

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.