MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 109.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.27% of MetLife worth $722,727,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in MetLife by 79.1% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,378,000 after buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in MetLife by 256.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in MetLife by 16.8% during 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 period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $82.29 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.69.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.58.

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.