NewEdge Advisors LLC Acquires 737 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,313,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $889,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 182.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 716,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,391,000 after buying an additional 33,898 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 8,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 2,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 7,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $81.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.69 and its 200-day moving average is $73.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $82.99.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.