National Pension Service Lowers Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

National Pension Service cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 35.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 947,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 529,945 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in MetLife were worth $76,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 6.8% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,412,000 after purchasing an additional 585,671 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,410,000 after purchasing an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,816,000 after purchasing an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in MetLife by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,568,000 after buying an additional 236,698 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of MET opened at $80.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. MetLife’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.