American Century Companies Inc. Decreases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,058,228 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,291 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.15% of MetLife worth $86,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $8,643,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 9,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 69,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,748,000 after purchasing an additional 27,274 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 14.8% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,899 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $3,240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE MET opened at $84.15 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

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.