Boston Common Asset Management LLC Sells 39,706 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Boston Common Asset Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,706 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $14,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. North Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth $26,000. Motco raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.3%

MET stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.17. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.64.

MetLife Company 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.