Clearbridge Investments LLC Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 43.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.82% of MetLife worth $463,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 worth $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,430,000 after purchasing an additional 30,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $79.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.29 and a 200 day moving average of $82.89.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.