Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 31,207 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 16.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 220,540 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,207 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in MetLife were worth $17,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Estabrook Capital Management grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Estabrook Capital Management now owns 589 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MET. Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 target price (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.09.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded down $2.42 on Friday, reaching $73.53. The stock had a trading volume of 1,756,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,372,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $49.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.55.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business 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. 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 (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife 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.