Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Makes New $703,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $79.93 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.17. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MET. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.69.

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.