Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Decreases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,077,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 39,281 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.16% of MetLife worth $88,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $81.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.56. The company has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.