State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 2,236 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 363,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,236 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in MetLife were worth $24,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in MetLife by 806.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,752,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 54.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after acquiring an additional 746,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $38,669,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 1.1 %

MetLife stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $71.90. The company had a trading volume of 2,866,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,506,602. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.06. The firm has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.66%.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MET. UBS Group lowered their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

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.