Barrett & Company Inc. Buys 121 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the quarter. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in MetLife by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 68,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in MetLife by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 3,782 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 30,221 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $83.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $83.80 and a 200 day moving average of $80.73. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.02 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. 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 (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.61%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 43.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.17.

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.