MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 37.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,872 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 17,643 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $336,965,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $62,265,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.40.

MetLife Price Performance

MET traded up $2.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $76.25. 4,351,726 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,282,496. The company has a market capitalization of $51.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 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. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The business's 50 day moving average price is $78.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.10.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.95%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

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

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.