Persium Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000. MetLife makes up about 0.7% of Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 177.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.00.

MetLife Trading Up 2.0 %

MET traded up $1.63 on Monday, hitting $81.88. 2,220,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,945,766. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

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.