Corient Private Wealth LP Takes $38.19 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 798,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,192,000. Corient Private Wealth LP owned approximately 0.12% of MetLife at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,742,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $81,494,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $14,182,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,683,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock opened at $96.21 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.74. The firm has a market cap of $61.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.