Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Has $1.02 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 81.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,722 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hudson Value Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $209,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $4,134,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.1% during the second quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE MET opened at $82.06 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.96 and a 200-day moving average of $78.20. 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 market capitalization of $54.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.64.

About MetLife

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.