MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,085 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,377 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $11,404,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB boosted its position in MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 79.1% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $142,378,000 after buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 256.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $78,209,000 after purchasing an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in MetLife by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.58.

MetLife Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:MET traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,282,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,504,177. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.44. The company has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.