Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 402 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 402 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MET opened at $82.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.28. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.