Captrust Financial Advisors Increases Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,229 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,729 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in MetLife were worth $4,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,854,000. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 902 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 21,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 31,661.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 21,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,720,000 after buying an additional 21,213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3 %

MET stock opened at $77.82 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.09 and a 200 day moving average of $81.24. The firm has a market cap of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Company Profile

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.

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