Cibc World Market Inc. Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Cibc World Market Inc. lowered its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 13.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,087 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Market Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after buying an additional 477,783 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after buying an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after buying an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MET opened at $84.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.13 and its 200 day moving average is $77.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $85.29.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore set a $96.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

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.