MetLife, Inc. $MET Stock Position Boosted by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 369,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,163 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned approximately 0.06% of MetLife worth $30,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in MetLife by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth about $6,649,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 272,619 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 96,523 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 256.8% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 45,100 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.27.

MetLife Stock Up 1.5%

MET opened at $78.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.72 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.18. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $87.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.91 and a 200-day moving average of $78.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $18.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.30%.

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.