MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lowered its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,106 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after purchasing an additional 99,328 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth about $233,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 186,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,371,000 after purchasing an additional 29,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $85.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $58.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.73 and a 200-day moving average of $82.08. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS 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%. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

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.