New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 135,640 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 927,409 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 135,640 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.13% of MetLife worth $61,330,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $72.23 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average of $67.02. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 113.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.