Providence Capital Advisors LLC Takes $6.65 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 80,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,649,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the second quarter worth $404,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in MetLife by 15.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 11,438 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on shares of MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.64.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.77. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $87.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.90 and a 200 day moving average of $78.81.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.24. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 48.30%.

MetLife Company Profile

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.