Simon Quick Advisors LLC Purchases 483 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,194 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 17,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,461,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 10,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,179 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in MetLife by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in MetLife by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $86.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $64.61 and a one year high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $60.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued 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 yield of 2.51%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 43.95%.

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.