Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $7.67 Million Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 89,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,670,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during 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 acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.6% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,424,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $96.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $93.39 and its 200-day moving average is $82.83.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, August 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

MetLife Company 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.