Versor Investments LP Trims Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Versor Investments LP cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,547 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,502 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for 0.5% of Versor Investments LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 88.2% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter worth $255,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter worth $12,060,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in MetLife by 13.4% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,050,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $84,378,000 after purchasing an additional 123,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 21.1% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,718,000 after purchasing an additional 3,724 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $79.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.63.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly 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 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 company’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 company earned $2.28 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.