Marietta Investment Partners LLC Takes $256,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 435,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,687,000 after acquiring an additional 28,848 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 44.5% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 55,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,514,000 after acquiring an additional 16,980 shares during the last quarter. Mindset Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $450,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $283,000. Finally, HUB Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, 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 objective for the company. 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 0.5 %

MetLife stock opened at $82.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $56.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.60.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly 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, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

MetLife Company 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.