Richwood Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 190 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the quarter. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE MET opened at $82.33 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.64. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.