By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 184,775 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $15,129,000.
Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $30,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MetLife
MetLife Stock Performance
Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $54.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average is $82.40. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.
MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.
MetLife Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.
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.
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