Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Makes New $1.83 Million Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 22,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,832,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 94,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,757,000 after buying an additional 2,913 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 36,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 8,709 shares in the last quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its position in MetLife by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 59,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,858,000 after purchasing an additional 5,975 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 926,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $76,207,000 after purchasing an additional 56,341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MET. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $83.10 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.80. The firm has a market cap of $56.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.