MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 94,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,913 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in MetLife were worth $7,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 4.6 %

MetLife stock opened at $79.19 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $53.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.89.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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%. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

MetLife Company 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.