Xponance Inc. Grows Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,985 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

MET opened at $81.58 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $83.44 and a 200 day moving average of $82.56. The firm has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

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 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, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

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.