Strs Ohio Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Strs Ohio decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,424 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MetLife were worth $23,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 93,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,406 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $204,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 2.8% in the third quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 182,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 25,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $144,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on shares of MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $97.00 target price on MetLife and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.27.

MetLife Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of MET opened at $75.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $87.93. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.82. The firm has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.