New York State Common Retirement Fund Buys 1,000 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 757,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in MetLife were worth $62,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 244.4% during the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 131.9% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $83.08 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $83.46 and a 200-day moving average of $81.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $57.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.30 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.58.

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.