J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 118.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in MetLife by 806.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,840 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $52,752,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 54.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after acquiring an additional 746,643 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth $38,669,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MET. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $72.72 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.06. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.