Brookstone Capital Management Boosts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Motco increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $78.71 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $52.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold 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 $95.18.

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.