MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stake Lifted by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth approximately $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Down 0.7 %

MET stock opened at $81.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $56.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.67%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.