Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 9,715 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Blueshift Asset Management LLC reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 32.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,715 shares during the quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,577,000 after purchasing an additional 272,619 shares during the period. NBW Capital LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter worth approximately $222,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in MetLife by 197.5% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 37,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after buying an additional 24,789 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,826 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $469,000 after buying an additional 982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 736.1% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 238,204 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,156,000 after buying an additional 209,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.60.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.28 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $88.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $50.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.75.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company had revenue of $17.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

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.