UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Sells 9,768 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp has reduced its stake in MetLife by 24.9%, selling 9,768 shares and now holding 29,535 shares worth approximately $2.37 million.
• MetLife is receiving positive assessments from analysts, with price targets typically between $94.00 and $98.00, reflecting an overall rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share on September 9th, representing a yield of 3.0%.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 9,768 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in MetLife were worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Motco increased its position in MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.09.

MetLife Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of MET stock opened at $75.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $78.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

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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