Summit Financial LLC Buys 15,069 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 296.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,069 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,430,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of MET opened at $81.18 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.04 and its 200 day moving average is $83.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

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.