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

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 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 also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in MetLife by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst 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 research note on Wednesday, August 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.21.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $96.57 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.40%.

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

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.