Tobam Sells 1,359 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Tobam trimmed its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 44.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,359 shares during the quarter. Tobam’s holdings in MetLife were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Argus raised their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.28. 1,165,203 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,321,454. The firm has a market cap of $54.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.68. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company 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 revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

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.