Nilsine Partners LLC Sells 216 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Nilsine Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 216 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $260,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,892,000 after buying an additional 814 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 25,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 7,628 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 80,147 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,562,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.17.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE MET opened at $79.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.28. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a market capitalization of $53.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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.