Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP reduced its holdings in MetLife by 78.1%, owning 45,240 shares after selling 161,598 during the first quarter, valued at approximately $3.63 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for MetLife, with ten recommending buying and a target price averaging $95.60.
• MetLife recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, representing a yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 78.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 161,598 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in MetLife were worth $3,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,597,000 after acquiring an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,410,000 after acquiring an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in MetLife by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $570,816,000 after buying an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after acquiring an additional 236,698 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $2.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $79.51. 4,830,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,797,014. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

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.