B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 554 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,134 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 554 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,159,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 8.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,960,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 13.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 90,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,430,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $88.62.

MetLife Stock Down 1.8 %

NYSE MET opened at $81.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

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.