First Horizon Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 403,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the period. MetLife makes up 0.9% of First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $33,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in MetLife by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 7,557 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Crumly & Associates Inc. now owns 6,326 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 40,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 573.8% in the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 30,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,523,000 after buying an additional 26,238 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:MET opened at $81.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.44. The stock has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.30 and a 1 year high of $89.05. 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 (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

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.