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

Iowa State Bank trimmed its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in MetLife by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in MetLife by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank grew its holdings in MetLife by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MET. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE MET opened at $85.51 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $85.97. The company has a market capitalization of $59.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.76%.

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.