Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 45,931 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,146,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 45,931 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.03% of MetLife worth $585,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during 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. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.23 on Friday, hitting $77.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,371,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,403,239. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.22. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

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.