Howard Bailey Securities LLC Has $204,000 Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 734 shares during the quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MET. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.04 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.59 and its 200 day moving average is $80.98.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

MetLife Company 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.