MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Cullinan Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife by 51.8%, selling 3,236 shares and retaining 3,008 shares, valued at approximately $242,000.
• MetLife reported Q2 earnings of $2.02 per share, missing expectations, with revenue also below estimates at $17.34 billion, down 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, with an annual yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Cullinan Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,008 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,236 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 85.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $104,270,000 after purchasing an additional 607,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.41 on Monday. 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for 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 revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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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