Sit Investment Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 62,910 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 62,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,151,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MET shares. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.85.

MetLife Trading Down 9.5 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $68.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.