Busey Bank Lowers Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Busey Bank lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Busey Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Swedbank AB raised its position in MetLife by 76.0% in 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 period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 256.6% in the third 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $87.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $84.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.35. The company has a market cap of $60.29 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.61 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 43.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.46.

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.