MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by USS Investment Management Ltd

USS Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,764 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in MetLife were worth $11,541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $260,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in MetLife by 137.1% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,151 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 3,557 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in MetLife by 589.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 18,249 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,420 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,672,000 after buying an additional 7,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.15. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MET. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.08.

About MetLife

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.