Pensionfund Sabic Sells 3,000 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Pensionfund Sabic decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in MetLife by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,484,000 after acquiring an additional 4,722 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $604,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 148,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,175,000 after acquiring an additional 17,094 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,141,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.60.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $78.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.32.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

MetLife Profile

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.