Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys New Holdings in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in shares of MetLife by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 187,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,433,000 after purchasing an additional 11,469 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.4% during the third quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 33,682 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,774,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.6% in the third quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 455,689 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,535,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $94.91.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $75.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.90. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $87.39.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.