Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Buys 3,531 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 958,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,531 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.14% of MetLife worth $78,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $973,901,000 after buying an additional 158,107 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 43.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.85.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $68.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.90. The firm has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.