SPC Financial Inc. Has $606,000 Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

SPC Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional boosted 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 valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th 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. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 48,101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $83.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.15.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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 objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

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.