MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stock Position Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,666 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $13,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB grew its position in MetLife by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after purchasing an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in MetLife by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in MetLife by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 104,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,640,000 after purchasing an additional 5,635 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in MetLife by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 3.8 %

MetLife stock opened at $80.62 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.50. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.