Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 6,135 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 36.8%, selling 6,135 shares and holding 10,548 shares valued at $848,000.
• Institutional investors hold 94.99% of MetLife's stock, with significant stakes increased by firms like Price T Rowe Associates, which raised its position by 7.4%.
• MetLife's quarterly earnings fell short of estimates, reporting $2.02 EPS versus a consensus of $2.32, alongside a 2.7% year-over-year revenue decline.

Wright Investors Service Inc. trimmed its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 36.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 6,135 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,597,000 after purchasing an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,410,000 after purchasing an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,816,000 after purchasing an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after purchasing an additional 236,698 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MET. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday. 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. Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.64.

MetLife Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.42, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.15.

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 company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. 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.

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