SVB Wealth LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $647,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after buying an additional 99,328 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth about $233,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 131.9% in the 3rd quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 186,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,371,000 after buying an additional 29,163 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $85.60 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.08. The firm has a market cap of $58.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced 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 net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

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.