Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 956 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 956 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. CWM LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 15.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 18,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.5% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 703.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 58,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,839,000 after acquiring an additional 51,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.1% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 130,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,964 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.98. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.04 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.17.

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.