Ascent Group LLC Acquires 1,141 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 33,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Motco raised its position in MetLife by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in MetLife by 652.3% during the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.64.

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.