Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd Purchases 7,396 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 73,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,396 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,649,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in MetLife by 188.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,577,000 after purchasing an additional 272,619 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,176,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,905,000 after buying an additional 96,523 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in MetLife by 21.9% during the third quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 137,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,363,000 after buying an additional 24,800 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 256.8% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 62,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,161,000 after buying an additional 45,100 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.67.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $68.52 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. The firm has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $85.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.07 and a 200-day moving average of $77.92.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The business had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

MetLife Profile

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.