MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 48,101.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $1,074,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MET. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 2.0 %

MetLife stock opened at $83.17 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.