Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Increases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,197 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $426,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after acquiring an additional 105,823 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth $1,074,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $57.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.