Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Sells 557 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 557 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in MetLife were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 88.2% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth $255,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of MET opened at $77.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.13.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.18.

MetLife 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.