Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Buys 630 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 630 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 11,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 403,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,038,000 after purchasing an additional 5,250 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake 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 worth $619,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 2.1 %

MET stock opened at $81.02 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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 return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. 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 target on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.