Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 33,890 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 440,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,890 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $36,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 14.8% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 59.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 906 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 22,294 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,839,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in MetLife by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,209,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $182,208,000 after purchasing an additional 112,491 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 27,626 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report 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. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of MET opened at $79.19 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. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $83.29 and its 200 day moving average is $82.89. The company has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.