Brookwood Investment Group LLC Invests $593,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,383 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.7% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.74 on Friday, reaching $78.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,227,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,461,158. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.70. 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 0.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its shares are 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.