Ballentine Partners LLC Has $1.46 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in MetLife, Inc. by 27.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 18,149 shares valued at approximately $1.46 million.
• MetLife's shares had a 0.5% decline recently, with a current market price of $80.28 and a year range between $65.21 and $89.05.
• The company reported earnings per share of $2.02 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.30, and experienced a 2.7% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 27.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,942 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,410,000 after buying an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,816,000 after buying an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after acquiring an additional 236,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MET opened at $80.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.12. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.64.

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.

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