Metis Global Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Metis Global Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 888 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,499,000 after buying an additional 99,328 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in MetLife by 2.1% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 107,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,878,000 after buying an additional 2,173 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 23.2% during the third quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,566,000 after buying an additional 3,576 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 19.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:MET opened at $86.16 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.91. 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 company has a market capitalization of $58.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

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 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife 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.