Engineers Gate Manager LP Purchases 74,280 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 268.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,990 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,280 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in MetLife by 8,029.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 73,771,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,241,789,000 after buying an additional 72,863,779 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $639,986,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,543,000 after purchasing an additional 176,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.21.

MetLife Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of MET opened at $96.75 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.18 and its 200 day moving average is $84.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $100.93. The company has a market capitalization of $62.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.77.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.40%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc (NYSE: MET) is a global financial services company that provides insurance, employee benefits and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutions. Its offerings include life insurance, dental and vision insurance, disability coverage, accident and health insurance, annuities, and retirement products.

Through its employer-focused business, MetLife helps organizations provide benefits and financial protection to their employees. The company also offers group insurance, individual protection products and investment management services through MetLife Investment Management, which serves institutional investors and retirement plans.

Founded in 1868, MetLife serves customers in the United States and operates internationally across Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.