Intact Investment Management Inc. Purchases 2,400 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $54.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.