SPC Financial Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

SPC Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $654,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Csenge Advisory Group increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in MetLife by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the first quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $79.88 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.08. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. 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 $53.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.