Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 3,000 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded down $0.53 on Wednesday, hitting $84.22. The company had a trading volume of 346,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,296,026. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $79.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.29. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $86.94. 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 stock has a market cap of $59.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays initiated coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.46.

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.