Westpac Banking Corp Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Westpac Banking Corp cut its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,107 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.85.

View Our Latest Stock Report on MET

MetLife Trading Down 8.1 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $75.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.96. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.64 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

About MetLife

(Free Report)

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.

Featured Articles

• Five stocks we like better than MetLife
• Which Wall Street Analysts are the Most Accurate?
• Shares of RH Down Nearly 40%: Where Investors Can Turn To Now
• What is the Hang Seng index?  
• Tariffs, Spin-Out, and R2 Updates Are Positive Signs for Rivian
• High Flyers: 3 Natural Gas Stocks for March 2022
• Cathie Wood Loads Up on Baidu—Is It the Right Time to Buy?

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MET? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report).