SPC Financial Inc. Has $654,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 88.2% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 2,965 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,937,000 after buying an additional 19,192 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 3,204 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,735,000 after buying an additional 10,414 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 2.6%

MET stock opened at $79.88 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $79.68 and its 200-day moving average is $78.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its 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). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

MetLife Company 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.