Prosperity Consulting Group LLC Has $1.86 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Prosperity Consulting Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.46.

MetLife Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:MET opened at $75.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.35 and a 200-day moving average of $81.80.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

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.