Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Decreases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,535 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,394 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for 1.8% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $23,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 130,967 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $10,802,000 after buying an additional 3,964 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $162,499,000 after buying an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.0% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 51.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,822 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,664 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.58.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE MET traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,282,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,616,223. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day moving average of $81.35. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife's dividend 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.