Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Purchases 300 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,071 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in MetLife were worth $8,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $990,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.3 %

MET opened at $80.85 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $81.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $74.66 and a 200-day moving average of $72.63. The stock has a market cap of $57.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.54.

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.