Credit Agricole S A Sells 132,613 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Credit Agricole S A decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 46.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 132,613 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A’s holdings in MetLife were worth $12,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the period. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3%

MET opened at $78.9760 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.60. The company has a market capitalization of $52.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.85.

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

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.60.

MetLife Company 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.