Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Buys 421 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in MetLife were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Motco boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $81.61 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.67 and its 200 day moving average is $78.14.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.64.

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.