Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $1.76 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,178 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after purchasing an additional 762,291 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after purchasing an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:MET opened at $83.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.44 and a 200-day moving average of $82.57. The company has a market cap of $56.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 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 research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

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.