Banco Santander S.A. Sells 1,488 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Banco Santander S.A. lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 244.4% during the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays cut their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $79.11 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G 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 50 day simple moving average is $83.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.38.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly 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%. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 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.