Payden & Rygel Sells 168,500 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Payden & Rygel decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 49.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 172,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 168,500 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in MetLife were worth $14,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.85.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $68.71 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.90. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $46.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.