Callan Family Office LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 129,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,975,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of MetLife by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the period. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $81,494,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,163,000 after buying an additional 13,657 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,905,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $134,770,000 after purchasing an additional 18,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,172,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $94,139,000 after purchasing an additional 49,640 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $94.44 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $92.41 and a 200-day moving average of $82.17. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given 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 currently 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

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.