Family Firm Inc. Invests $85,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $85,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,733 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in MetLife by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.34. 2,629,905 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,365,335. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $79.34. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $72.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.47.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

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