Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $6.19 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in MetLife by 602.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 72.6% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $74.74 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.20. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $79.34. The company has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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 net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.