MBB Public Markets I LLC Invests $3.03 Million in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 43,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,032,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $964,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in MetLife by 8.3% during the second quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. CNB Bank increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.3% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.7% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays began coverage on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $82.48 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $82.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.98.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

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.