MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 37.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 219,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 130,852 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in MetLife were worth $15,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $457,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,140 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,273,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 88,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,515 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in MetLife by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 240,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,875,000 after acquiring an additional 4,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 321.3% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 58,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,069,000 after acquiring an additional 44,402 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $76.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $54.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.28. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.