Heritage Investment Group Inc. Makes New $205,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 7,837.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,124 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 29.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $83.33. 4,393,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,330,660. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.56. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.61 and a 1-year high of $86.94. The firm has a market cap of $57.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

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.