Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 501 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $972,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of 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 raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $75.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.45 and a 200-day moving average of $70.68. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $76.90. The company has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.