MetLife (NYSE:MET) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $87.25.

MetLife Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of MET traded up $2.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.04. 4,905,746 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,352,342. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.32. The stock has a market cap of $59.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $84.26.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after buying an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in MetLife by 5.4% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after acquiring an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.