Perkins Coie Trust Co Has $3.27 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Perkins Coie Trust Co lowered its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.6% in the first quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 38,691 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,379 shares during the period. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $916,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 73.5% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 27,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 11,507 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 6.6% in the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 19,028 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.9% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 11,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.40, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $76.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.17.

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.