Vest Financial LLC Has $1.28 Million Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,448 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,179,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake 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 valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,274,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,096,000 after purchasing an additional 114,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 5.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $184,744,000 after purchasing an additional 105,762 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MET opened at $83.99 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.18 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 capitalization of $58.16 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.79.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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%. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.08.

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.