Focus Partners Wealth Has $3.48 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 4,722 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in MetLife were worth $3,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $80.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.99 and a 200-day moving average of $81.15. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

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

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

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.

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