MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 249,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,503 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $17,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $558,460,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 2,063,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,845,000 after purchasing an additional 16,985 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $74.74 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $73.62 and a 200-day moving average of $72.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Bank of America cut their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

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.