Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,664 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,664 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $13,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 48,101.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after acquiring an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.08.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $83.99 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.83. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.18 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $58.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 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.