Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 2.6%, selling 6,923 shares during the 2nd quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately $20.96 million.
• Recent analyst ratings for MetLife show mixed sentiments, with target prices ranging from $84.00 to $97.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• MetLife's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.02, which missed estimates by $0.30, and revealed a 2.7% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC trimmed its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 259,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,923 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $20,963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of MetLife by 52.1% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $516,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $1.91 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.07. 6,548,732 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,427,391. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.64.

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.