Toronto Dominion Bank Grows Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 336,124 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,307 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $27,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MET opened at $80.80 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $54.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average 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.