Procyon Advisors LLC Has $1.74 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,427 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,736,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.08.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4 %

MetLife stock opened at $70.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.05. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.92 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a $0.545 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife 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.