Wesbanco Bank Inc. Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,687,000 after buying an additional 28,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 38,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after buying an additional 13,690 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MET opened at $79.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $53.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $76.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife 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.