Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 628 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 628 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 169.3% in the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 9,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 5,699 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.6% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 8,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,913 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in MetLife by 2.0% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 236,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,586,000 after purchasing an additional 4,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:MET opened at $77.48 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.88 and a 200 day moving average of $71.88. The firm has a market cap of $54.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus boosted their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

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.