New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 1,000 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 757,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.11% of MetLife worth $62,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 244.4% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $83.08 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.25. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 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 predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.58.

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.