Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 55.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,267 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,836 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $739,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Eley Financial Management Inc grew its stake in MetLife by 1.5% in the second quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,295,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 1,514,327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $121,782,000 after purchasing an additional 154,220 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.60.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $76.33 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. 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.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

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.