Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 5,014 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 122.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,014 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth approximately $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 85.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,270,000 after buying an additional 607,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. 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 note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

MetLife Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $79.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.84 and a 200 day moving average of $78.90. The company has a market cap of $52.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.75%.

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.