Wealthfront Advisers LLC Sells 9,050 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Wealthfront Advisers LLC lessened its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 81,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,050 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 564.1% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore set a $97.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho set a $102.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI set a $95.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $78.89 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.81.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.24. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.30%.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.