Two Sigma Securities LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 49,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,204,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $639,986,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 valued at $553,543,000 after buying an additional 176,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,026,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,904,000 after acquiring an additional 336,794 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.21.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $96.57 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.39 and its 200 day moving average is $82.88. 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.

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

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

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.