Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Buys New Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 98,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,329,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $444,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key MetLife News

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street Zen upgraded MetLife to a Buy rating, providing a favorable near-term sentiment catalyst for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET). MetLife Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Dowling & Partners issued a positive outlook for MetLife’s earnings, reinforcing expectations for continued operating strength. This view follows the company’s latest reported quarter, when earnings per share exceeded consensus estimates and revenue increased year over year. DOWLING & PARTN Issues Positive Outlook for MetLife Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: A review of life-insurance companies’ second-quarter results benchmarks MetLife (NYSE: MET) against its industry peers. The article may help investors assess relative performance, but the headline does not identify a new company-specific catalyst. Life Insurance Stocks Q2 Recap: Benchmarking MetLife
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple articles cover Bruno Mars’ concerts, schedules, weather, ticket availability and fan experience at MetLife Stadium. Although potentially relevant to the stadium’s venue business, MetLife, Inc. is an insurance and financial-services company; the stadium’s naming rights do not make these events a material direct driver of MET shares. Bruno Mars Opens Four Nights at MetLife Tonight

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.64.

MetLife Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $94.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.41 and a 200 day moving average of $82.17. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.40%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign 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.