MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 4.4% during the second quarter, now holding 83,074 shares valued at approximately $6.68 million.
• Analysts have recently set new price targets for MetLife, with Morgan Stanley raising their target from $94 to $97 and classifying the stock as "overweight".
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, set to be paid on December 9, reflecting a 2.7% yield.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,074 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,804 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $6,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 13,897 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,649 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $219,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 5,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. 111 Capital boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 128.2% in the 2nd quarter. 111 Capital now owns 13,683 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the period. Finally, Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,855,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.91.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.73 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $55.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.17. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

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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