NBC Securities Inc. Has $745,000 Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 281 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 61,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,083,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prossimo Advisors LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 10,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $69.86 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.79. The firm has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.97 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.08.

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.