Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $306.17 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,362,017 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 120,763 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $306,170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 114.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $74.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $79.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $72.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.60.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

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.