State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $17.18 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,822 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in MetLife were worth $17,181,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 38,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,123,000 after acquiring an additional 13,690 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in 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 worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in MetLife by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,095 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 114.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after purchasing an additional 5,481 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $81.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.