AMG National Trust Bank Takes $208,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 38.6% during the third quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 21,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 6,081 shares during the period. First Republic Investment Management Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 9.1% in the third quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,296,000 after buying an additional 67,585 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in MetLife by 11.0% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 4,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in MetLife by 35.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 126,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,700,000 after buying an additional 33,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in MetLife by 1.2% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 79,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,845,000 after buying an additional 961 shares during the last quarter. 88.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MET opened at $70.97 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.41 and a 1-year high of $77.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.23 and a 200-day moving average of $68.44. The firm has a market cap of $55.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.03. MetLife had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 3.26%. The company had revenue of $23.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.89 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 6th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 16th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.18.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.55, for a total transaction of $377,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,921,855.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Susan M. Podlogar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.91, for a total transaction of $215,730.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,321,738.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.55, for a total value of $377,750.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,921,855.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 37,401 shares of company stock worth $2,706,824 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

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MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through five segments: U.S.; 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.