Swiss National Bank Has $140.96 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,752,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 92,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $140,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.6% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 12,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 6.5% during the first quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,326,000 after acquiring an additional 3,277 shares during the last quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth about $593,000. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.7% in the first quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $75.00 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $49.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.33 and a 200-day moving average of $78.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.75%.

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.