SpiderRock Advisors LLC Acquires 603 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. SpiderRock Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in 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 worth $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after purchasing an additional 269,246 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 29.7% in the 1st 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 during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $81.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $59.24 and a 12 month high of $86.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.21.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 43.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. Barclays lowered their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate 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.