Wealthfront Advisers LLC Has $2.46 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 59.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 43,955 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 269,723 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,085,000 after purchasing an additional 21,491 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in shares of MetLife by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 18,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 26,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,193,000 after purchasing an additional 2,338 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $80.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.40. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

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.