Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 900,104 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 51,908 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.13% of MetLife worth $66,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MetLife by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $268,090,000 after buying an additional 700,788 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $256,468,000 after buying an additional 104,116 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $205,544,000 after acquiring an additional 108,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $132,641,000 after acquiring an additional 35,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded up $1.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,743,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,362,116. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $75.69. The company's 50-day moving average price is $71.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.23.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.

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