MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 236,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,285 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $19,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional grew its stake in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after buying an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,960,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MET shares. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of MET opened at $80.62 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.50. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $54.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. 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.