Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 122.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,014 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Motco raised its stake in MetLife by 105.5% during the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $79.44 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $52.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.