Nykredit A S Purchases New Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:METFree Report) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,846,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $240,857,000. MetLife comprises 0.8% of Nykredit A S’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $941,792,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $639,986,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $455,424,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $326,904,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $96.45 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $100.93. The company has a market capitalization of $62.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.24.

MetLife (NYSE:METGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MetLife

MetLife Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for MetLife (NYSE:MET)

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