First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA Acquires 1,624 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,803 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA’s holdings in MetLife were worth $893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $444,205,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $234,761,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,540,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,686,000 after buying an additional 1,930,271 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 42,754.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,766,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,882,000 after buying an additional 1,762,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1,582.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,456,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,319,000 after buying an additional 1,369,627 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.14% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $62.55. 4,120,861 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,049,476. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $77.36. The firm has a market cap of $46.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.06.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $15.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 76.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lifted their target price on MetLife from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. StockNews.com began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.45.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through five segments: U.S.; 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.