ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 608 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 13,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Symmetry Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,007,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 314.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 29,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after buying an additional 22,428 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 68.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 12,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 4,889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 411,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,888,000 after buying an additional 69,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $80.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.91 and a 52-week high of $81.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.78. The stock has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MET. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.