MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.2% in Q1, now holding approximately 720,444 shares worth $57.84 million.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS for its latest quarter, missing estimates by $0.30, and had a net revenue of $17.34 billion, falling short of expectations.
• Equities analysts have given MetLife an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $95.60, with ten analysts recommending a buy rating.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 720,444 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 72,845 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.11% of MetLife worth $57,844,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of MetLife by 7.4% in 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. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after purchasing an additional 806,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,265,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.58. The stock had a trading volume of 3,836,445 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,087,339. The stock has a market cap of $53.59 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $78.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

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.