CRA Financial Services LLC Invests $200,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

CRA Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its holdings in MetLife by 504.3% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 6,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 12,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,017,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 121,310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,006,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.7% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MET opened at $85.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $85.97. The company has a market cap of $59.89 billion, a PE ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.87 and a 200-day moving average of $73.71.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

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.