O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Acquires 274,376 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 114.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 513,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 274,376 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $42,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Values First Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MET shares. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Down 4.6 %

NYSE MET opened at $79.19 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. 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 $53.95 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.89.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.