MAI Capital Management Cuts Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

MAI Capital Management cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 779 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Motco raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.5% during the 1st quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $81.41 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.38.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.60.

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.