Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MET. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 374.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 602.5% in the 2nd 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 period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 98.3% during the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MET. Bank of America lowered their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.46.

MetLife Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of MET opened at $82.39 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.91 and a 52-week high of $86.94. The stock has a market cap of $58.59 billion, a PE ratio of 28.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.43. 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 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 net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. 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.