MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,156 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,135 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 8.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after acquiring an additional 9,337 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,960,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 48,101.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 1.2 %

MET stock opened at $85.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.61 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $59.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays increased their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.46.

MetLife Company 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.