Ameriprise Financial Inc. Has $585.28 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,146,519 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 45,931 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.03% of MetLife worth $585,278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. CX Institutional grew its position in MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $259,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.34 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.76. The company had a trading volume of 3,665,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,394,274. The company has a market capitalization of $51.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $77.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.33. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 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.