Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,399 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 623 shares during the quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 374.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 602.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 72.6% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 98.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE MET opened at $82.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.62 and a 200-day moving average of $74.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $86.94. The company has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

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.