HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Increases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,008 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in MetLife by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.16 and a 200 day moving average of $82.98. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. 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.