SVB Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 7,897 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 7,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in MetLife by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 131.9% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $85.60 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.08. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 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 stock has a market cap of $58.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.34, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 yield of 2.55%. MetLife’s dividend 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.