Williamson Legacy Group LLC Has $832,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Williamson Legacy Group LLC raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 669 shares during the quarter. Williamson Legacy Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% in 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 raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in MetLife by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,378,000 after acquiring an additional 762,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 256.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,209,000 after acquiring an additional 682,333 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $86.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.65 and its 200-day moving average is $81.83. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced 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%. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Barclays decreased their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.