Modera Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Modera Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 110.5% in the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 3,946.1% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 129,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,623,000 after acquiring an additional 126,631 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth $288,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in MetLife by 8.2% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 1.7% during the first quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 76,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America cut 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. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:MET opened at $82.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.69. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.48 and a 12-month high of $86.94. 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 (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.76%.

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.