Strs Ohio Trims Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Strs Ohio lessened its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 279,622 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,424 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in MetLife were worth $23,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 93,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 5,406 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.8% in the third quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 182,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,066,000 after buying an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.3% during the third quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 25,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,082,000 after buying an additional 3,535 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $144,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price target on MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho set a $102.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI set a $97.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.27.

MetLife Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:MET opened at $75.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $87.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.75%.

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.