MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in MetLife were worth $256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 8.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,746,000 after buying an additional 105,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,074,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MET shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $81.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

MetLife 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.