Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 177,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,459 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $14,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $756,104,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,412,000 after acquiring an additional 585,671 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,624,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $532,749,000 after acquiring an additional 162,041 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,512,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,643,000 after acquiring an additional 86,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in MetLife by 40.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 4,507,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $361,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $75.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $49.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $87.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.82.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MET. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.27.

MetLife 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.