Advisors Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Advisors Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,811 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 198.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in MetLife by 95.4% in the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 564.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MET shares. Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on MetLife and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.42.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $77.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.94 and a 200 day moving average of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.39.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.