Pacific Capital Partners Ltd Sells 20,000 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Pacific Capital Partners Ltd reduced its holdings in MetLife, Inc. by 53.3%, selling 20,000 shares, and now owns 17,500 shares valued at approximately $1.4 million.
• Despite the decrease in holdings by some investors, other firms like Brighton Jones LLC and ProShare Advisors LLC increased their stakes in MetLife during the last quarter, highlighting ongoing interest in the company.
• MetLife reported Q2 earnings of $2.02 per share, missing estimates, with revenues of $17.34 billion, down 2.7% year-over-year, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share.

Pacific Capital Partners Ltd cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 53.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,000 shares during the quarter. MetLife accounts for approximately 1.3% of Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Pacific Capital Partners Ltd's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,407,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 148,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,175,000 after buying an additional 17,094 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $605,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $348,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its stake in MetLife by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 29,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,413,000 after buying an additional 3,895 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:MET opened at $80.86 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.29.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

About MetLife

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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