Private Management Group Inc. Has $25.31 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Private Management Group Inc. cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 309,104 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,273 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $25,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth about $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 256.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in MetLife by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $84.92 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.65 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 43.95%.

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.