MetLife (NYSE:MET) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $91.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $83.18, but opened at $76.57. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MetLife shares last traded at $77.81, with a volume of 541,401 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.0 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.84. 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 $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 5.27%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.95%.

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.