Evolve Private Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Evolve Private Wealth LLC reduced its MetLife stake by 83% in the first quarter, selling 33,428 shares and leaving it with 6,870 shares worth about $486,000.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive overall: MetLife has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with several analysts raising price targets to around $95 to $102.
• MetLife reported better-than-expected EPS of $2.42 for the latest quarter and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 per share, implying a 2.8% yield.

Evolve Private Wealth LLC cut its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 83.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,870 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 33,428 shares during the quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $366,524,000 after purchasing an additional 117,545 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in MetLife by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at $8,091,000. AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in MetLife by 93.5% in the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,714 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,777,000 after acquiring an additional 16,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in MetLife by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 666,354 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,888,000 after acquiring an additional 71,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. UBS Group raised their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.62.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $84.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $81.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.02. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $89.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

MetLife News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Negative Sentiment: World Cup coverage has highlighted complaints from players about the turf at MetLife Stadium, with some praising other venues and “trashing MetLife,” reinforcing criticism of the stadium’s field conditions. World Cup players split on turf, praising SoFi while trashing MetLife
• Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said NFL players blasted the MetLife turf, keeping the criticism of the stadium in the spotlight and potentially weighing on brand perception. NFL players blast MetLife turf as World Cup grass fuels debate
• Neutral Sentiment: There were also upbeat event-related headlines, including fans packing MetLife Stadium for World Cup matches and excitement around high-profile games, which supports strong attendance and traffic but does not directly change MetLife’s fundamentals. Ecuador, Germany fans pack MetLife for World Cup group match
• Neutral Sentiment: MetLife also had corporate visibility from a new study on resilience and confidence, plus coverage of its broader “confident futures” initiative, but these are mainly brand/PR updates rather than clear near-term stock movers. New MetLife Study Reveals a 72% "Confidence Gap" in Ability to Recover from Life's Setbacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports about ticket prices, offsite tailgates, weather delays, and player arrivals at MetLife Stadium are mostly event noise and do not materially affect the insurer’s core business. What do tickets cost for the England vs. Panama World Cup match at MetLife?

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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