MAI Capital Management Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,897 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 34,161 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 3,305 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 19.0% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 791,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $65,204,000 after acquiring an additional 126,610 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.3% in the third quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 20.5% in the third quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 15,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 6,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 782 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MET shares. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Evercore set a $95.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.91.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of MET opened at $75.92 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.39. The company has a market capitalization of $49.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.90.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.30%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.