Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 104.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,101 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,179,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,913,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,430,000 after purchasing an additional 30,187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $283,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of MET opened at $83.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $83.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.15. The firm has a market cap of $56.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen raised their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.58.

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.