Candriam S.C.A. Buys 93,338 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 473,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 93,338 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.07% of MetLife worth $38,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,496,645 shares during the period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in 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. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $82.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,131,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,554,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business's 50 day moving average price is $83.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.35. The company has a market cap of $56.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. 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.