MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,186 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 441 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in MetLife by 22.4% in the second 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. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after buying an additional 269,246 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after buying an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after buying an additional 485,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $81.00 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $58.89 and a 1-year high of $86.94. The stock has a market cap of $56.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.95%.

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.