Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC Acquires 304 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional increased its stake in MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $77.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.09 and a 200-day moving average of $81.22. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.69.

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.