SWS Partners Has $2.65 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

SWS Partners cut its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 32,372 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,182 shares during the quarter. SWS Partners’ holdings in MetLife were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after buying an additional 99,328 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 19.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $233,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 186,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,371,000 after acquiring an additional 29,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $85.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.08.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MET. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Company 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.