MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by HTLF Bank

HTLF Bank reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. HTLF Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its position in MetLife by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after acquiring an additional 99,328 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 9,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $5,396,000. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 130,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,964 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in MetLife by 703.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 58,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 51,370 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.17 on Tuesday, reaching $85.71. 2,446,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,335,098. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.23 and a 200 day moving average of $73.79. 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 fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $86.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.95 billion, a PE ratio of 29.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The business 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

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.