Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 39.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,732 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth approximately $2,683,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 13,657 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,182,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $1,169,000. Finally, Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth $8,329,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $102.21.

MetLife Trading Up 2.8%

MET opened at $99.15 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.40. The firm has a market cap of $63.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.77. 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 (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 purchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.