MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,671,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 518,304 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in MetLife were worth $188,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth approximately $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.50.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $97.10 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $97.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.93%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.