MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,432 shares during the quarter. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 2.2% in the second quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Glenview Trust co raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 14,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:MET opened at $82.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.18.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.60.

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.