Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 12,723 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $63,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,366 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 53,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,352,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $29,829,000. Axis Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $244,000. Finally, United Community Bank grew its holdings in MetLife by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 5,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $82.28 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.35. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $56.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.58.

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.