MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stock Position Trimmed by SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 389 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.99 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $76.15 and its 200-day moving average is $80.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company 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 firm posted $1.83 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is 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.