BNP Paribas Buys 6,624 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

BNP Paribas lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,624 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in MetLife were worth $2,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in MetLife by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 218,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,268,000 after buying an additional 18,339 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 249,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,579 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 25,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its holdings in MetLife by 1,185.9% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 137,490 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,853,000 after acquiring an additional 126,798 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 301,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $81.96 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.88. The stock has a market cap of $52.74 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $85.29.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 45.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MET. Barclays upped their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $96.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

MetLife Profile

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.