Scotia Capital Inc. Reduces Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Scotia Capital Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 55,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,845 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in MetLife by 652.3% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter worth $40,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.60.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE MET opened at $76.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $50.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.02 and a 200-day moving average of $78.79.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio 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.