Y.D. More Investments Ltd Acquires 376 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Y.D. More Investments Ltd raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 109.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd’s holdings in MetLife were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 131.9% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MET. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock opened at $84.92 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.65 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.68. The firm has a market cap of $58.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly 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 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 43.95%.

About MetLife

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.