MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 729 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $79.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.83. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.