Signaturefd LLC Trims Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Signaturefd LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,960,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $81.58 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.56. The firm has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

MetLife 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.