Sierra Ocean LLC Invests $32,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,933 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 9,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $781,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on 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 cut their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MET opened at $82.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.