MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stock Holdings Trimmed by MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 24,017 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.80 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.13. The company has a market capitalization of $54.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.69.

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.