MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,499 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,127,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in MetLife by 79.1% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,378,000 after purchasing an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 256.6% in 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 buying an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE MET opened at $78.56 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.41. The stock has a market cap of $53.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio 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.