Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Cuts Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 96,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Trustmark Bank Trust Department increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trustmark Bank Trust Department now owns 2,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 13,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 30,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,402,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 4,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Evercore set a $96.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.31.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $84.61 on Monday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $85.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $77.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.01.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.93%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.