MetLife, Inc. $MET Stock Holdings Lessened by Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC has decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 13.8% in Q1, now holding 683,316 shares worth approximately $54.86 million.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on MetLife, with Wells Fargo raising its price target to $97.00 while others have set lower targets, reflecting varying outlooks on the stock.
• MetLife recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, which yields 2.9% annually, with a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 13.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 683,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 109,562 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for 1.4% of Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC owned about 0.10% of MetLife worth $54,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth $26,000. Motco increased its position in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth $46,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of MetLife by 128.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Up 0.6%

MET traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $80.86. 2,314,200 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,642,683. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $78.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.32. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week 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.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company 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%.MetLife's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.