Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 18,788 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 670,565 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,788 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of MetLife worth $55,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $371,993,000 after purchasing an additional 269,246 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $375,179,000 after purchasing an additional 68,579 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,239,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $184,744,000 after buying an additional 105,762 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped 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 lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, November 25th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.62.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2 %

MET traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $81.51. 760,157 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,354,490. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.72. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.44 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.06.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 5th were paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.95%.

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.