Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. Sells 6,499 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 19.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 26,798 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,499 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

MET opened at $79.15 on Monday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $77.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.24. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $53.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86.

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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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