Venturi Wealth Management LLC Purchases 4,060 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 761.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,060 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MET. Swedbank AB grew its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth $91,771,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $78,209,000 after purchasing an additional 682,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,735,000 after purchasing an additional 608,224 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $81.26. 3,079,147 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,600,895. The company's fifty day moving average is $83.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $56.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

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

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.58.

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.