HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Cuts Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $917,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 12,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,251,000 after buying an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays started coverage on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Argus upped their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $76.19 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $79.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.86 and a 200 day moving average of $72.28.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

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.