CWC Advisors LLC. Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

CWC Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $618,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 8,548 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 31,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,589,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $82.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.62 and a 200-day moving average of $74.43. The firm has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $86.94.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.