MetLife, Inc. $MET Position Lessened by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,646 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,538 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $3,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 14,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $78.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $80.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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