Arkadios Wealth Advisors Raises Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,079 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in MetLife were worth $5,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 34,437 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,820,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in MetLife by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 328,964 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $26,814,000 after acquiring an additional 14,582 shares during the last quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,225 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 19,022 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 price objective (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

MetLife Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $1.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $74.00. The company had a trading volume of 4,383,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,390,276. The company's fifty day moving average price is $78.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.55. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership 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.