Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Sells 8,394 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 292,535 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,394 shares during the period. MetLife accounts for approximately 1.8% of Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $23,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 256.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $81.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $83.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.11. The company has a market cap of $56.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen lifted 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. BMO Capital Markets started 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. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

About MetLife

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.