Kingsview Wealth Management LLC Makes New $744,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 8,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $744,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 22.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $639,986,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in MetLife by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,543,000 after buying an additional 176,811 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $455,424,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $96.57 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.39 and a 200 day moving average of $82.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About MetLife

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.