Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 8,904 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,904 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MET traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,397,119 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,328,661. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.65 and a 200 day moving average of $70.95. The company has a market cap of $54.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $76.90.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Argus upped their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.08.

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.