MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,437 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,861 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,820,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. CX Institutional grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $83.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly 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 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

MetLife Company 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.