Bailard Inc. Purchases 996 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Bailard Inc. lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 31.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 16,036 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,530 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Williamson Legacy Group LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $81.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.14. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.