HB Wealth Management LLC Sells 4,585 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its MetLife holdings by 15.2%, selling 4,585 shares and ending with 25,577 shares worth approximately $2.06 million.
• In contrast, other hedge funds increased their stakes, with Kathmere Capital Management LLC growing its position in MetLife by 88.2% during the same quarter.
• MetLife's recent quarterly earnings highlighted a missed EPS estimate of $2.02 compared to the expected $2.32, and a revenue decline of 2.7% year-over-year.

HB Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,577 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,585 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $2,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 88.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,937,000 after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 10,414 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $81.34 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.64.

MetLife Profile

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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