72,433 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Bought by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 72,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,129,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 26,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,128,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 10,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 29,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,343,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:MET opened at $93.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $92.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.08.

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MET. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

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.