State of Michigan Retirement System Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

State of Michigan Retirement System cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 169,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in MetLife were worth $13,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB increased its position 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 valued at $162,499,000 after purchasing an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 19.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 18.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 186,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,371,000 after acquiring an additional 29,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $742,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $81.53 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.72 and a 200 day moving average of $82.14. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.