Richardson Financial Services Inc. Has $162,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Richardson Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 31.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,052 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth about $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7,837.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,250,000 after buying an additional 1,115,124 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MetLife by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after buying an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after buying an additional 485,811 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 2.3 %

MetLife stock opened at $81.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.66 billion, a PE ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $81.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.51 and its 200 day moving average is $72.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Barclays began coverage on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

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.