M&T Bank Corp Cuts Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp cut its MetLife stake by 89.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 645,524 shares and leaving 74,254 shares valued at $5.86 million at quarter-end.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall with a consensus of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.38, though several firms (Barclays, BofA, TD Cowen, Morgan Stanley) recently trimmed their targets while keeping Buy/Overweight ratings.
• MetLife beat Q4 estimates with EPS $2.49 vs. $2.34 expected and reported revenue of $52.44 billion (up 27.6% YoY); the stock trades near $77.66 with a market cap of about $50.6 billion.

M&T Bank Corp decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 89.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,254 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 645,524 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in MetLife were worth $5,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $5,333,418,000 after buying an additional 7,578,199 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,419,947,000 after buying an additional 477,783 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,035,622,000 after buying an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the 3rd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.38.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $77.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.74. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.33 and a twelve month high of $83.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The business had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.85 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Company Profile

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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