14,228 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Purchased by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 14,515 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,494,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 195.8% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after purchasing an additional 22,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.2% during 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 buying an additional 13,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MET shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.07.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $97.57 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.58. The company has a market capitalization of $62.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78. 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 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share 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 business 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. The business’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.7 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.40%.

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