Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 18,249 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 589.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,344 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,249 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased 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 buying an additional 762,291 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 256.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 682,333 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted 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 acquiring an additional 608,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in shares of MetLife by 347.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 432,887 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,384,000 after acquiring an additional 336,127 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.92.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.88. 1,815,676 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,416,929. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.61 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $60.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.66.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders 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 2.51%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

MetLife Company 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.