MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by InvesTrust

Key Points

• InvesTrust reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 58.5%, retaining 38,236 shares, which represents approximately 1.2% of its holdings.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32, and experiencing a 2.7% decline in revenue year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675, with a current dividend yield of 2.8%.

InvesTrust cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 58.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 53,841 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for about 1.2% of InvesTrust's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. InvesTrust's holdings in MetLife were worth $3,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Motco lifted its holdings in MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in MetLife by 128.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MET shares. Barclays upped their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.55.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $79.26. 1,175,564 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,390. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

MetLife Company 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.