Old North State Trust LLC Takes $504,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 29,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,343,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. UBS Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.21.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $96.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.40%.

About MetLife

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.