Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 4,164 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Easterly Investment Partners LLC sold 4,164 shares of MetLife, Inc., decreasing its stake by 2.4%, and now owns 172,030 shares valued at approximately $13.8 million.
• MetLife's recent quarterly earnings showed a miss with earnings per share at $2.02 against the expected $2.32, accompanied by a decline in year-over-year revenue by 2.7%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, indicating an annualized yield of 2.9%, with the payment date set for December 9th.

Easterly Investment Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,030 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,164 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for approximately 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $13,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Csenge Advisory Group increased its stake in MetLife by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its holdings in MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, My Legacy Advisors LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 1.2% during the second quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $77.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.13.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

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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