Wealth Alliance Sells 160 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Wealth Alliance lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in MetLife were worth $290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth $39,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 114.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 602.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 72.6% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $81.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $81.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

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.