Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 29.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,368 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,913 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.2% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,507 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 394.2% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,884,000 after buying an additional 21,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 3,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. The company had a trading volume of 4,644,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,362,703. The firm has a market cap of $54.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.80. 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 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

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.