Principle Wealth Partners LLC Sells 151 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 151 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Savant Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 25,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,087,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 22,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 38,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907 shares during the period. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV raised its position in shares of MetLife by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 4,097 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 14,025 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,148,000 after buying an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.08.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE MET opened at $83.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.93. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.04 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $57.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.