Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Trims Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 61,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,056 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 3.1% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 80,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,666,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.6% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 10,249 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company raised its stake in MetLife by 3.3% in the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 54,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,496,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $82.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $86.94. The company has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.49.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. 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.