State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 3,800 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 76,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $70.21 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.13 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.23.

MetLife 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.