Candriam S.C.A. Sells 108,152 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 22.8%, holding 365,735 shares valued at approximately $29.37 million at the end of the reporting period.
• MetLife's earnings report for the latest quarter showed an EPS of $2.02, missing expectations, with revenues down 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.9%, and has a stock buyback plan of $3 billion approved by its board.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 365,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 108,152 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.05% of MetLife worth $29,365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in MetLife by 30.8% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 8,237 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 0.7% in the first quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 34,969 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% in the first quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 117,516 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $9,316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of MetLife by 11.0% in the first quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 632,396 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $50,105,000 after purchasing an additional 62,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $290,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group lowered their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded up $2.1760 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.4160. 3,502,666 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,596,835. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $54.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.47%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.