MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife (NYSE:MET) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday.

MET has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of 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 upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $87.36 on Monday. MetLife has a twelve month low of $62.81 and a twelve month high of $87.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.18.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in MetLife by 22.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after buying an additional 269,246 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $375,179,000 after buying an additional 68,579 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after acquiring an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 5.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $184,744,000 after acquiring an additional 105,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.