Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,176 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,176 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 6.8% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,144,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,412,000 after acquiring an additional 585,671 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,597,000 after acquiring an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,410,000 after acquiring an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $570,816,000 after acquiring an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $80.32 and its 200-day moving average is $78.18. The firm has a market cap of $52.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. MetLife’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler lowered MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.18.

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.