Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 145,822 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1,169.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 145,822 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $12,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $739,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $67.63 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $83.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “moderate buy” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.42.

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.