Silver Lake Advisory LLC Boosts Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 77,279 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for about 0.8% of Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Silver Lake Advisory LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MetLife by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,358,000 after acquiring an additional 100,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $82.48 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.98. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $82.99. The firm has a market cap of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.23.

About MetLife

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.