MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stake Boosted by Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 54.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $62,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter worth $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 602.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in MetLife by 72.6% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 114.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE MET opened at $85.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.87. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $86.94. The stock has a market cap of $60.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 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.