Keybank National Association OH Lowers Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Keybank National Association OH lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional lifted its stake in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,074,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $83.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.15. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. 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 (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.