Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 630 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. PFG Investments LLC raised its position in MetLife by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its position in MetLife by 15.9% in 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 last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,074,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $81.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $83.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.44. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given 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 2.69%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.