MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Position Raised by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 94.1% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after purchasing an additional 6,877 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,297 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,551 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 4,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 290,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,756,000 after purchasing an additional 23,814 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:MET opened at $83.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.57. The stock has a market cap of $56.56 billion, a PE ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

MetLife 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.