National Bank of Canada FI Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 17.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 306,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 64,984 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in MetLife were worth $21,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 602.5% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 72.6% during 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 during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus increased their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of MET opened at $74.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.32 and its 200 day moving average is $72.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.