MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,644,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 108,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $135,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MET. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in MetLife during the first quarter worth about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 187.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $404,000. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $70.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $85.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.02 and its 200-day moving average is $78.66.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.18.

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.