Mystic Asset Management Inc. Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Mystic Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 12,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho upped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $93.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $60.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.08. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.