Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,037,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 263,256 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.38% of MetLife worth $4,752,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional increased its stake in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded down $3.86 on Friday, reaching $79.19. The company had a trading volume of 6,414,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,269,063. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.83.

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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.