MetLife (NYSE:MET) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $84.54.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $75.47 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.73 and a 200 day moving average of $72.22. The stock has a market cap of $53.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife has a 52-week low of $57.91 and a 52-week high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in MetLife by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,993,000 after buying an additional 269,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after buying an additional 100,782 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.