Expressive Wealth LLC Makes New $474,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Expressive Wealth LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $66,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,340,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $7,396,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth approximately $135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.64.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $94.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.17. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.40%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.