PFG Advisors Buys New Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

PFG Advisors purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 85.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,270,000 after acquiring an additional 607,333 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $80.17 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.89 and a 200-day moving average of $78.90. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.75%.

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.