Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.16 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,605 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in MetLife were worth $3,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 624,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,270,000 after buying an additional 4,127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,550,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $81.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $81.39. The stock has a market cap of $57.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $74.51 and its 200 day moving average is $72.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company 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 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

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.