Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 114,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. MetLife makes up approximately 1.4% of Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,169,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in MetLife by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 73,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in MetLife by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,247,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $261,189,000 after purchasing an additional 174,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its position in MetLife by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $78.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

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.