Short Interest in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Declines By 12.8%

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,420,000 shares, a decrease of 12.8% from the February 28th total of 7,360,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.85.

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MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $6.69 on Thursday, reaching $75.80. 6,197,321 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,303,445. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.01. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.