LVW Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

LVW Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 64.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,832 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 4.7% during the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 1.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 4.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in MetLife by 10.7% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4 %

MET stock opened at $69.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.31 and its 200 day moving average is $70.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $56.13 and a one year high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for 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 revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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 upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

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.