Bank of New York Mellon Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,818,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 125,658 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.73% of MetLife worth $380,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 790.0% in the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $83.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $53.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.94. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.33 and a 1 year high of $85.29.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.31.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.