Impax Asset Management Group plc Sells 717 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 717 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,378,000 after purchasing an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 256.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after purchasing an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $81.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 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%. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. 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.