GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Motco lifted its holdings in MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.64.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $81.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

MetLife Profile

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.