Assetmark Inc. Sells 69,827 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Assetmark Inc. cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 78.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,110 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,827 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter valued at $336,965,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after purchasing an additional 806,711 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $62,265,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of MET traded down $1.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.00. The stock had a trading volume of 4,383,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,344. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.55. The firm has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 target price (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.09.

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.