MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 435,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,848 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.06% of MetLife worth $35,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $91,771,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after purchasing an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 2.2 %

MET opened at $84.15 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $83.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month 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.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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 expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

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.