Sunpointe LLC Makes New $273,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB increased its stake in MetLife by 76.0% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $83.08 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05. 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 stock has a market cap of $57.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.46 and its 200-day moving average is $81.25.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MET. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.58.

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.