Cetera Trust Company N.A Sells 875 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cetera Trust Company N.A decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 875 shares during the period. MetLife makes up 1.4% of Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Cetera Trust Company N.A’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 374.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 602.5% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.1 %

MetLife stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.77. The stock had a trading volume of 443,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,303,323. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $86.94.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

About MetLife

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.