Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases Shares of 1,183,835 MetLife, Inc. $MET

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,183,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,164,000. MetLife accounts for about 0.6% of Freestone Grove Partners LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.18% of MetLife as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 205.8% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $96.62 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The stock has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $92.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.60.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore restated a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.21.

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.