Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its MetLife stake by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 137,655 shares and leaving it with 142,076 shares worth about $11.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on MetLife remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and the stock holding a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target of $95.31.
• MetLife recently beat earnings estimates with quarterly EPS of $2.42 and also raised its dividend to $0.5925 per share quarterly, implying a 2.8% annual yield.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 137,655 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $11,216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in MetLife by 205.8% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 790.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Barclays raised their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.31.

Key Stories Impacting MetLife

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: World Cup coverage is keeping MetLife Stadium in the headlines, including reports that the final will be played there and that the venue is drawing unusually high attention from fans and media. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: There are also logistics-related stories about congestion and commuter concerns around MetLife Stadium during World Cup events, which may matter more to event operations than to MetLife’s core financial performance. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several players and coaches, including France’s Adrien Rabiot and Didier Deschamps, publicly criticized the MetLife Stadium pitch as hard and poor-quality, raising concerns about the venue’s surface and potentially creating reputational noise around the stadium. Article Title

MetLife Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MET stock opened at $85.76 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.81 and a 200 day moving average of $77.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $89.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.93%.

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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