Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 334,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,726 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $27,420,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $83.91 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.80. The firm has a market cap of $57.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. 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 results 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

MetLife 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.