Public Sector Pension Investment Board Sells 23,113 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board has decreased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. by 13.0%, selling 23,113 shares and now owning 154,821 shares valued at $12.431 million.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings for MetLife, with two analysts suggesting a hold rating and ten recommending a buy, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $96.00.
• MetLife's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $2.02, missing estimates, with a revenue drop of 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board reduced its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 154,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,113 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in MetLife were worth $12,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $312,946,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 8,789.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 target price (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.00.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MET traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.34. The stock had a trading volume of 2,660,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,562,289. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.87 and a 200 day moving average of $78.77. The company has a market cap of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. 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 released 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. MetLife's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

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.