Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Acquires 307 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in MetLife were worth $335,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen raised their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.08.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $83.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.79. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.18 and a 52-week 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. The company has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

MetLife 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.