Financial Management Professionals Inc. Increases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,960,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $1,074,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 48,101.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 285,514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,549,000 after purchasing an additional 15,251 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.92.

MetLife Stock Up 1.1 %

MET opened at $86.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $64.61 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.41. The stock has a market cap of $60.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

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.