Vest Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 202.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,206 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 8,833 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MET. RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.3% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 8,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 1,839 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 15.8% in the 1st quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 214.4% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,704 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 7,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 22.6% in the first quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $84.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,872,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,324. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $78.82 and a 200 day moving average of $74.21. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $86.94. The stock has a market cap of $60.27 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. MetLife's payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.46.

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.