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

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 108.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,433 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at $1,074,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.08.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $83.99 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.18 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.73.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

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.