Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $77.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.13. The firm has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly 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). 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MET. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One research 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 an average price target of $93.08.

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.