Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,937 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 198.2% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 95.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 564.1% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $37,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. UBS Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.27.

MetLife Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $79.27 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.77.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.