MetLife (NYSE:MET) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $83.18, but opened at $76.57. MetLife shares last traded at $77.81, with a volume of 541,401 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Down 5.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.75. The firm has a market cap of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.76%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7,837.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,124 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.