MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by New Mexico Educational Retirement Board

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 130,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,964 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,499,000 after acquiring an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 4.0% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 67,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 36.5% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays cut their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.7 %

MetLife stock opened at $81.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.