Venture Visionary Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Venture Visionary Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 519 shares during the quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $612,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its stake 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 602.5% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $84.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $60.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.29. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $86.94.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

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.