California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 56,024 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,185,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 56,024 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of MetLife worth $78,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,770 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,155 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 12.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Down 1.1 %

MET traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $71.90. 2,888,788 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,506,602. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.06. The firm has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.