UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Acquires 564,383 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,113,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 564,383 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $418,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 44.0% during the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 23,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,885,000 after acquiring an additional 7,033 shares in the last quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. now owns 8,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,220,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,967,000 after acquiring an additional 258,445 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 13,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,110,000 after acquiring an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivaldi Capital Management LP bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of MET stock opened at $80.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $53.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.15. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

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

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid 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 2.83%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.08.

MetLife Profile

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.