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

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,644,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 108,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.25% of MetLife worth $135,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 95.4% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 564.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $94.18.

MetLife Stock Down 1.6%

MET opened at $70.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $85.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.66.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

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.