MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 494,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,044 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.07% of MetLife worth $39,795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,597,000 after acquiring an additional 36,177 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $594,410,000 after purchasing an additional 259,993 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in MetLife by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,816,000 after purchasing an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $535,568,000 after buying an additional 236,698 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $82.37 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.18. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $54.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.87.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.