Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 9,715 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 32.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,715 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at $756,104,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,412,000 after buying an additional 585,671 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,410,000 after acquiring an additional 259,993 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,816,000 after acquiring an additional 57,221 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.28 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.75. The company has a market cap of $50.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $88.59.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.60.

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.