Argyle Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 19.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,200 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. CX Institutional increased its holdings in MetLife by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $397,000. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 4.3% during the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 25,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 84.1% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,320 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 5,629 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of MET traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $70.42. 5,650,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,506,510. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.44 and a 200-day moving average of $67.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.