MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Has $8.50 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,017 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays decreased their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.08.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,987,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,401,173. The stock has a market cap of $52.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

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.