Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Sells 13,488 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lowered its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 13,488 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,771,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE MET opened at $83.10 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.80.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.