MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,818,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125,658 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $380,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.31.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $83.49 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $85.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $77.55 and a 200-day moving average of $76.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.