Marathon Capital Management Reduces Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Marathon Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 110,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,710 shares during the period. MetLife makes up 2.0% of Marathon Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Marathon Capital Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 7,837.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,124 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after buying an additional 485,811 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $81.54 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.90. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.91 and a 52-week high of $81.97. The firm has a market cap of $57.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

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.