RNC Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 20%, owning 50,184 shares worth $4.03 million after selling 12,567 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Arete Wealth Advisors and Jones Financial Companies, have increased their stakes in MetLife, indicating continued interest in the company.
• JPMorgan Chase raised their price target for MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00, with the average rating being a "Moderate Buy" and a projected target price of $95.60.

RNC Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 20.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,184 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,567 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $4,029,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,987 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,431 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 42,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,458,000 after purchasing an additional 5,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.60.

MetLife Price Performance

MET traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,314,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,642,683. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.32. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $53.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

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.