Avanza Fonder AB Buys 8,288 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Avanza Fonder AB increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 21.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,288 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in MetLife by 13,486.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 220,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,385,000 after purchasing an additional 218,612 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 276.4% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 31,246 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,467,000 after purchasing an additional 22,945 shares in the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $5,915,000. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 31,993 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $69.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $85.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

MetLife 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.