Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. Sells 30,901 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald reduced its stake in MetLife by 21.1% in Q4, selling 30,901 shares and leaving the firm with 115,355 shares worth about $9.11 million at quarter-end.
• MetLife beat expectations last quarter with $2.49 EPS vs $2.34 expected and revenue of $52.44 billion (vs $31.43 billion expected), a 27.6% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Institutional investors own about 94.99% of MetLife, and analysts carry a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a consensus price target of $93.50.

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. reduced its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 115,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 30,901 shares during the quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 13.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,749,521 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,333,418,000 after acquiring an additional 7,578,199 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after purchasing an additional 477,783 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 5.8% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 4.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,746,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $640,357,000 after acquiring an additional 352,395 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $73.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.99. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $83.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $48.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.74.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings lowered MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.50.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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