Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 145,822 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1,169.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,822 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $12,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 790.0% during the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “moderate buy” rating and issued a $87.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $95.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.42.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $67.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $44.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.39, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

MetLife 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.