Procyon Advisors LLC Has $3.11 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $3,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased 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. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.17.

MetLife Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE MET opened at $78.46 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $52.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's 50-day moving average is $76.18 and its 200-day moving average is $80.89.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

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.

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