Howard Capital Management Inc. Sells 436 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Howard Capital Management Inc. cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 52,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 436 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 88.2% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in MetLife by 20.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the period. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 20.4% in the first quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 108,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,745,000 after purchasing an additional 18,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $78.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.43. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.47 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. One 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

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.