Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 861,085 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 47.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 951,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 861,085 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of MetLife worth $77,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE MET opened at $84.15 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.52 and its 200 day moving average is $82.73.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.