Modern Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,124 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 39.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $91,771,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 256.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. TD Cowen upped their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $83.91 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.50 and a 200-day moving average of $82.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.