PDS Planning Inc Increases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 186 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,145,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $79.88 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.08. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

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.