Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases New Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $466,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.58.

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MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.70. 3,217,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,069,534. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.30 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

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.