PFG Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

PFG Investments LLC decreased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,902 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after buying an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth $1,053,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2,313.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after buying an additional 100,532 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock opened at $75.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

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.