Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $1.23 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,747 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 3.4% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 28,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,009,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 117.8% during the second quarter. BOKF NA now owns 7,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,997 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 179,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,627,000 after purchasing an additional 33,800 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,028,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $72,215,000 after purchasing an additional 146,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $457,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.28.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its 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 net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

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.