Arkadios Wealth Advisors Purchases 8,077 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,077 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in MetLife were worth $6,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $756,104,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at $178,669,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 40.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 4,507,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,107 shares during the period. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 325.5% during the second quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028,554 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1,028.2% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 856,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,912,000 after purchasing an additional 780,955 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $102.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price target on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $97.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.42.

MetLife Stock Down 1.6%

MetLife stock opened at $75.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.88. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $88.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 42.75%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.