Stevens Capital Management LP Grows Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 156.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,946 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,234 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Down 0.5 %

MET opened at $82.33 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $56.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.67. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $67.30 and a one 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 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, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.