Bank of Montreal Can Buys 341,262 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,354,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 341,262 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.21% of MetLife worth $111,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 564.1% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $69.96 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $45.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $85.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $76.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MET. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.67.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.