MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 792,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,567 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.11% of MetLife worth $65,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after acquiring an additional 100,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MET opened at $84.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.21. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $86.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $60.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.46.

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.