Signaturefd LLC Purchases 251 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Signaturefd LLC increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,538 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,983,000 after buying an additional 131,538 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,053,000. Entropy Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 38.3% in the first quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 30,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 8,440 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,346,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in MetLife by 53.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 618,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,848,000 after buying an additional 214,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MET opened at $84.13 on Thursday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $86.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.37 and a 200 day moving average of $74.36. The firm has a market cap of $59.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Barclays began coverage on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

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.