Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 14.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 565 shares during the quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth $26,000. Motco boosted its holdings in MetLife by 105.5% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth $38,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its holdings in MetLife by 652.3% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth $40,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MET shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $78.78 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.47%.

MetLife Company 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.