Apollon Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 374.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.08.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $83.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.04 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.72 and its 200 day moving average is $80.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.