MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,845 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in MetLife by 13.4% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 88.2% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 2,965 shares during the period. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $1,608,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,060,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in MetLife by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,050,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $84,378,000 after acquiring an additional 123,947 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.60.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $76.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $88.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $79.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.79.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 42.75%.

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.