Moran Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,292 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $444,205,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $234,761,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,540,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,595,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930,271 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 42,754.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,766,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1,582.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,456,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,627 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. TheStreet upgraded MetLife from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on MetLife from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.45.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $62.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.26. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $77.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $15.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.14% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 7.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 9th will be issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.47%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through five segments: U.S.; 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.