Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $7.72 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 94,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,806 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in MetLife by 79.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in MetLife by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MET. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

MET opened at $81.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.