12,855 Shares in MetLife, Inc. $MET Purchased by Leonteq Securities AG

Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,015,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 790.0% in the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Evercore set a $96.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.15.

MetLife Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $84.29 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $84.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average of $76.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $54.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

MetLife Company 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.