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

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $756,104,000. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $178,669,000. Amundi lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 40.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 325.5% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,344,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $108,129,000 after buying an additional 1,028,554 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $68,912,000 after purchasing an additional 780,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MET opened at $75.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $88.09. The firm has a market cap of $49.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.23, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.69 and its 200-day moving average is $78.88.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors 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 yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore ISI set a $97.00 price objective on MetLife and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

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.