Signal Advisors Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 3,195 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Signal Advisors Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 114.7% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Argus boosted their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.08.

MetLife Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MET traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.85. 2,822,392 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,348,069. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $71.14 and its 200-day moving average is $69.80. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.97 and a 12-month high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.