MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 610,639 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 127,544 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $49,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,771,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 256.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Barclays dropped their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $83.10 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.61 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.80.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio 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.