Ascent Group LLC Acquires 1,141 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.17. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Equities 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 was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One equities 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.