Aviva PLC Has $55.12 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Aviva PLC decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 673,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,398 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $55,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 13.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 90,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,430,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in MetLife by 3.8% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 27.0% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 1,925 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 273,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,696,000 after acquiring an additional 16,417 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 9.5 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.85.

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.