First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 2,639 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,639 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,053,000. Entropy Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,440 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,346,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.5 %

MET stock opened at $83.22 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $58.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.89 and a twelve month high of $86.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.41 and a 200-day moving average of $74.75.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. TD Cowen started coverage on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Company 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.