Linscomb Wealth Inc. Reduces Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 125,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,738 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its position in MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 602.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Down 1.1 %

MET stock opened at $74.63 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $79.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

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.