MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 678.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 28.0% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 27,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,989,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,361,339. The company has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.22. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34. 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 (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.77.

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.