New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 533,955 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,368 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of MetLife worth $43,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 244.4% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 374.3% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $81.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $56.63 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.