MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 108.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,433 shares during the quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 79.1% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,726,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,378,000 after purchasing an additional 762,291 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 256.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 948,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,209,000 after buying an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4 %

MET stock opened at $83.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.18 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.73.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 5.27% and a return on equity of 20.01%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.08.

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.