Empowered Funds LLC Takes $8.22 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 97,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,222,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% during the second quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in MetLife by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 29,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,343,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MET. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.21.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $96.57 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.39 and a 200-day moving average of $82.83.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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%.

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

About MetLife

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.