30,066 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Purchased by Equitable Holdings Inc.

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 30,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,544,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in MetLife by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Evercore reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $102.21.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $96.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $100.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.83.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 EPS for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 45.40%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife 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.