J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 10,720 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 177.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,764 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,720 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $35,687,000 after buying an additional 28,848 shares during the period. Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $422,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.09.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $78.20. 1,010,522 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,355,410. The firm's fifty day moving average is $78.72 and its 200 day moving average is $79.72. The company has a market cap of $52.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

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.