Carret Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Carret Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 887 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the third 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 buying an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 worth $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,430,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $77.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.36. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

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.