MetLife, Inc. $MET Stake Lifted by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 494,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,044 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $39,795,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in MetLife by 151.4% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 128.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 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 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays upped their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.64.

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.