529 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Acquired by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $48,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,499,000 after acquiring an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 97,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,082,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 533 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP raised its holdings in MetLife by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 12,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 4,509 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $78.56 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.41. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $53.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday. 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

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.