Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Acquires 190 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,295 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $162,499,000 after buying an additional 99,328 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 670,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $55,308,000 after purchasing an additional 18,788 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 13,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 4,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 97,989 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $79.11 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.38. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Company 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.