Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Reduces Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $260,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $669,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in MetLife by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

MET opened at $78.51 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $77.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

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.