MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Bought by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 117,545 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $366,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,082,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund now owns 20,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,000. CGN Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $1,374,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in MetLife by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MET opened at $68.52 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $85.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $75.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The company has a market capitalization of $44.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 48.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Barclays set a $90.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

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.