Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 1,725 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,725 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 31,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,589,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $232,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $291,000. RBA Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.6% during the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 77,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,399,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MET shares. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America lowered their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $84.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.37 and a 200 day moving average of $74.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.91, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $86.94.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

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.