Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 23,814 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 290,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,814 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $23,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after acquiring an additional 99,328 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in MetLife by 8.2% during 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. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 13,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $82.23 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $83.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.54.

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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.