MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 16.5%, selling 15,639 shares during the first quarter, now holding 79,098 shares worth $6,351,000.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS in its last quarter, missing estimates of $2.32, with revenue of $17.34 billion also below expectations.
• MetLife has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, yielding 3.0%, and initiated a stock repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $3.00 billion in shares.

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,098 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 15,639 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in MetLife were worth $6,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,937,000 after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MetLife by 20.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $516,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.40.

MetLife Stock Up 3.3%

NYSE MET traded up $2.43 on Friday, reaching $76.25. 4,351,726 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,428,825. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $79.17. The company has a market cap of $51.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.72%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

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.