MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,895 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its position in MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 11,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in MetLife by 0.7% in the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,900,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 5,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on MET shares. Barclays upped their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.58.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:MET opened at $77.69 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $52.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.00.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.