Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 114.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $85.51 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $76.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $85.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. Barclays began coverage on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

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.