MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Purchased by First National Trust Co

First National Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 37.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,458 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,162 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 984 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife by 20.7% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,735,000 after buying an additional 10,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in MetLife by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 112,764 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,054,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. UBS Group lowered their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $78.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $52.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $80.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.43.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

MetLife Company 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.