MetLife Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:MET)

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders bought 20,867 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 785% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,359 call options.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,749,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,333,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,578,199 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,419,947,000 after buying an additional 477,783 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 5.8% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $756,104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $101.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.73.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $79.79. 1,005,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,214,047. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $78.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.96. The firm has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $88.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

About MetLife

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.