Jacobi Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 26.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,758 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 678.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,000,000 after acquiring an additional 250,402 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $7,012,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after acquiring an additional 293,925 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,088,000 after acquiring an additional 86,091 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after acquiring an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,270,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,340,502. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $76.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $53.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.46.

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.