MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its stake in MetLife by 61.5% during the first quarter, leaving it with 20,211 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Multiple research analysts have given MetLife an average price target of $95.60, with ten analysts rating it a "Buy" and one a "Hold".
• MetLife's recent earnings report showed it missed expectations with $2.02 earnings per share and revenues of $17.34 billion, a decrease of 2.7% year-over-year.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 61.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,211 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 32,311 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Motco boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 128.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays upped their target price on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $80.86. The stock had a trading volume of 2,314,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,642,683. The stock has a market cap of $53.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.32. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

About MetLife

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.