MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 196,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,287 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $16,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in MetLife by 188.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,577,000 after purchasing an additional 272,619 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,608,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $12,060,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on MetLife in a report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $101.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have 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 has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $95.73.

MetLife Trading Down 0.3%

MetLife stock opened at $80.04 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $52.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.95.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

MetLife Company Profile

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.