MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stock Position Decreased by Transcend Capital Advisors LLC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,570 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,179,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,274,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,096,000 after acquiring an additional 114,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,744,000 after acquiring an additional 105,762 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.58.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of MET opened at $81.02 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

MetLife Company 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.