MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.19), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $15.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.21 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.26% and a return on equity of 13.60%. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was down 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share.
MetLife Trading Down 3.6 %
Shares of MET traded down $2.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $70.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,882,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,665,441. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $57.41 and a fifty-two week high of $77.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.89. The firm has a market cap of $54.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.
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MetLife Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 7th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is 75.19%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $82.00 in a report on Friday, December 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $78.00 in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.36.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other MetLife news, EVP Steven J. Goulart sold 29,401 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $2,113,343.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,310 shares in the company, valued at $19,645,522.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Steven J. Goulart sold 29,401 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.88, for a total value of $2,113,343.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 273,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,645,522.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.55, for a total transaction of $377,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,921,855.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 37,401 shares of company stock worth $2,706,824 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in MetLife by 48.9% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 694 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 26.4% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 767 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of MetLife by 75.9% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,127 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of MetLife by 20.3% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,656 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.15% of the company's stock.
About MetLife
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MetLife, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and institutional customers. It offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner's insurance and retail banking services to individuals as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services.
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