Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Lowers Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,266 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in MetLife were worth $10,049,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,960,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.62 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.40. The company has a market capitalization of $54.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

MetLife 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.