MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 131,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,377 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $11,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB grew its stake in MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in MetLife by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in MetLife by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.15. 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 $57.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MET. Barclays lowered their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

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.