LVW Advisors LLC Raises Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 529 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in MetLife by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.3% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $85.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 421,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,338,138. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $85.97. The company has a market capitalization of $60.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.62.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.46.

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.