Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Has $335,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in MetLife were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MET. TD Cowen increased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. 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 MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.08.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $83.99 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.79. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.18 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.