Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Takes $795,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,749,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,333,418,000 after purchasing an additional 7,578,199 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 5.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $756,104,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,624,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $532,749,000 after acquiring an additional 162,041 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,512,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $367,643,000 after purchasing an additional 86,519 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MET opened at $75.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $87.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.21 and its 200-day moving average is $78.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.50 billion, a PE ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.77.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The company’s revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s payout ratio is 48.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.91.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.