Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 154 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring 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.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CX Institutional increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE MET opened at $79.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.94. 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 (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

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.