Searle & CO. Invests $320,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Searle & CO. purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 4,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $320,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,280,000. Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in MetLife by 1.0% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 258.6% during the 2nd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,872,000 after purchasing an additional 29,510 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in MetLife by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 963,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $67,657,000 after purchasing an additional 23,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 602.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE MET traded up $0.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,644,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,342,165. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34. The company has a market cap of $55.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.71.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

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.