Swedbank AB Purchases 329,582 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,161,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 329,582 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned 0.47% of MetLife worth $254,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 29,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in MetLife by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 75,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 58,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 6.3% in the second quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 20,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,627,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.0%

MetLife stock opened at $78.71 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.26 and a 200 day moving average of $78.21.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.55.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.