MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 109.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $722,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,179,000 after buying an additional 68,579 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 valued at $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted 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 valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,274,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,096,000 after purchasing an additional 114,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 5.0% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,744,000 after purchasing an additional 105,762 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $82.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.69. 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 released 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

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.