MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 747,282 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,436 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.10% of MetLife worth $49,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $73.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.82. The company has a market capitalization of $53.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.39, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.01.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.23.

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.