Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 11,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $925,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,430,000 after buying an additional 30,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 4.6 %

MET stock opened at $79.19 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.94. The stock has a market cap of $53.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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