Stolper Co Acquires 226 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Stolper Co lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Stolper Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 8.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $2,960,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth $1,074,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 48,101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 285,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,549,000 after acquiring an additional 15,251 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.92.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $84.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.16 and its 200 day moving average is $79.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.95%.

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.