Griffith & Werner Inc. Purchases New Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Griffith & Werner Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.17.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $77.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $76.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors 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 purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.