Short Interest in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Drops By 12.8%

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,420,000 shares, a drop of 12.8% from the February 28th total of 7,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MET. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in 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 valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $81.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $83.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.01. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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 predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

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.