Estate Counselors LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Estate Counselors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 24,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,750,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 58.9% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of MET stock opened at $95.21 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.64. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $96.00. The company has a market capitalization of $61.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

MetLife Company 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.