U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 374 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 374 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 678.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,000,000 after buying an additional 250,402 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth about $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MET traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $70.13. 1,989,459 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,361,339. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $71.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.22. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $79.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.77.

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.