MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,049,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,130 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in MetLife were worth $86,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,749,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,333,418,000 after buying an additional 7,578,199 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 worth $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 5.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the second quarter worth $756,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $69.21 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $85.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.25. The company has a market capitalization of $45.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

About MetLife

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.