Kovack Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. raised its stake in MetLife by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 247,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,249,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 33,598 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Finally, BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.58.

MetLife Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $84.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.72.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.