Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 6,322 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,322 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 76.0% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $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 shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth approximately $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 256.6% during the third 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 increased its stake in 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 valued at $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $81.78 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.64 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 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors 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 yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.17.

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.