Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,182,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,024 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $330,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 790.0% in the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

MetLife Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:MET opened at $83.39 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $85.29. The company has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.93%.

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.