Colonial Trust Co SC Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Colonial Trust Co SC lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth about $336,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 670,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $55,308,000 after buying an additional 18,788 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in MetLife by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,691,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock opened at $76.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.33. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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.