MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Montag A & Associates Inc.

Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,242 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after buying an additional 35,782 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,053,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 2,313.7% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,772,000 after buying an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0 %

MetLife stock opened at $77.48 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.83. The stock has a market cap of $54.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.05. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $79.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

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.