National Bank of Canada FI Has $33.94 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 414,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 47,111 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.06% of MetLife worth $33,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Atom Investors LP acquired a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $358,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 556.9% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 13,488 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $4,355,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $223,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 13.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 90,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,430,000 after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.85.

MetLife Stock Up 1.8 %

MET stock opened at $82.61 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $56.28 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.01.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 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.