5,571 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Purchased by Independent Financial Group LLC

Independent Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $394,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 195.8% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 33,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,626,000 after buying an additional 22,016 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $81,494,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in MetLife by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 714,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after buying an additional 14,515 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,163,000 after acquiring an additional 13,657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $94.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $94.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Evercore set a $96.00 target price on MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.50.

MetLife Profile

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.