Diversified Trust Co Sells 13,872 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Diversified Trust Co reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 48.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,938 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,872 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $35,687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,848 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $320,430,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $80.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.16.

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

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.17.

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.

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