Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Sells 61,100 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 943,426 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 61,100 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.14% of MetLife worth $77,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $973,901,000 after acquiring an additional 158,107 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MetLife by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,434,737 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $526,869,000 after acquiring an additional 290,734 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.46.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $75.84. 601,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,401,033. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.02%.

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.