Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 31,726 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 334,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 31,726 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $27,420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $83.91 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $83.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.80. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.