AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 971,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,894 shares during the quarter. MetLife accounts for 1.0% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $78,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in MetLife by 577.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 11,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 9,772 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 30.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 1,791 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in MetLife by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 664,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,479,000 after purchasing an additional 134,799 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in MetLife by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $639,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.96 and a 200 day moving average of $78.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.18.

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.