Xponance Inc. Boosts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 119,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,985 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $9,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake 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 worth $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,179,000 after acquiring an additional 68,579 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,430,000 after acquiring an additional 30,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in 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 during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MET. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $81.58 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $55.58 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

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.