Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Buys 151,427 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 116.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 281,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 151,427 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in MetLife were worth $22,637,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at $1,482,000. Colonial Trust Advisors lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 60.1% during the 2nd quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 1,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. F m Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 113,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,832 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 2nd quarter worth about $756,104,000. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 79.6% in the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 29,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after acquiring an additional 13,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MET. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.60.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $76.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $88.68. The firm has a market cap of $50.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.81.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.75%.

About MetLife

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.