Howard Bailey Securities LLC Sells 734 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Howard Bailey Securities LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 22.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 734 shares during the period. Howard Bailey Securities LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,179,000 after acquiring an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,274,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,096,000 after buying an additional 114,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in MetLife by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,744,000 after buying an additional 105,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.77 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.98. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.04 and a one year high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 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.