Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Makes New $303,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during 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. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $75.89. The stock had a trading volume of 566,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,406,351. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $51.70 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $78.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MET. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.46.

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.