Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 954 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in MetLife by 602.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 72.6% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:MET opened at $77.38 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $79.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays initiated coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

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.