Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Has $1 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 119,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,884,000 after purchasing an additional 6,007 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in MetLife by 7.5% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,342 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 34,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,861,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 1.0% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at about $1,193,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $2.78 on Friday, hitting $84.04. 4,905,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,352,342. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.97 and a 200 day moving average of $73.32. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $84.26.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. 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 firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.25.

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.