Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Trims Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Motco grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE MET opened at $81.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.09 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.20.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.64.

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.