Global Retirement Partners LLC Sells 688 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Global Retirement Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $517,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in MetLife by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,499,000 after acquiring an additional 99,328 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 27.7% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its position in MetLife by 3.1% during the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 36,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,037,000 after purchasing an additional 6,833 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 10.5% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 198,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,389,000 after purchasing an additional 18,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MET. TD Cowen raised their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.58.

MetLife Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $81.02 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 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) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. 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.