Freedom Investment Management Inc. Has $819,000 Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,002 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 151.3% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,198,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $98,095,000 after purchasing an additional 721,344 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on MET shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $72.49 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.19 and a 200 day moving average of $82.13. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

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.