MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,233 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 9.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 130.0% in the 4th quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,772 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after buying an additional 7,785 shares in the last quarter. GTS Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 121.6% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 5,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after buying an additional 31,543 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 73,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,979,000 after buying an additional 5,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 30,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,477,000 after buying an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.64.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $79.16 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $52.64 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

About MetLife

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.