First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 1,453 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 66.5% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 99,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,258,000 after buying an additional 39,719 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 19.7% during the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 0.8% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 63,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in MetLife by 14.2% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 112,958 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,106,000 after buying an additional 14,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cito Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 5.0% during the third quarter. Cito Capital Group LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $661,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2 %

MET traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $70.16. 2,244,243 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,086,974. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.20. The firm has a market cap of $49.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.13 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Argus upped their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.23.

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.