American Century Companies Inc. Sells 17,630 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

American Century Companies Inc. decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,509,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 17,630 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.23% of MetLife worth $124,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its position in MetLife by 95.4% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 564.1% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $35,000. MTM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 413.2% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.91.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $71.92 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $87.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.91.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.30%.

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.