Webster Bank N. A. Cuts Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Webster Bank N. A. decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 252 shares during the period. Webster Bank N. A.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 7,837.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,250,000 after buying an additional 1,115,124 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8 %

MET opened at $85.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $60.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $76.87 and a 200-day moving average of $73.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $85.97.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

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.