State Street Corp Has $2.09 Billion Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

State Street Corp decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,030,065 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 780,385 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 3.91% of MetLife worth $2,093,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quaker Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 198.2% in the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the period. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth $38,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in MetLife by 652.3% in the 2nd quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.78 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $88.09. The firm has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.70.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MET shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.60.

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.