Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 263,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,355 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $21,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in MetLife by 2.5% in the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 244,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,128,000 after buying an additional 5,853 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at $385,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 393,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,374,000 after acquiring an additional 30,200 shares during the last quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 30,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 934 shares during the period. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $77.17 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $87.93. The firm has a market cap of $50.85 billion, a PE ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $102.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.27.

MetLife 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.