B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 1,230 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,230 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $558,460,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,087,000 after purchasing an additional 276,364 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MetLife by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,090,000 after purchasing an additional 700,788 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,468,000 after purchasing an additional 104,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in MetLife by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $69.86 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.97 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $71.14 and a 200-day moving average of $69.79.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Argus boosted their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.08.

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.