UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,026,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 336,794 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $509,904,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the second quarter worth $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth $941,792,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $639,986,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,424,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $326,904,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of MET stock opened at $96.57 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.88.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Wall Street Zen raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average 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.