MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 34.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,944 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,290 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in MetLife were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in MetLife by 1.0% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,096,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in MetLife by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $925,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its position in MetLife by 2.5% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.7% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.09.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.53. 2,227,602 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,364,521. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $52.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $78.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.72.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

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.