Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Acquires 2,249 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 12,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,249 shares during the quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in MetLife by 13.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 88.2% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $12,060,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,050,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,378,000 after purchasing an additional 123,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in shares of MetLife by 136.0% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 14,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 8,482 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $75.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.88.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

About MetLife

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.