MetLife (NYSE:MET) Hits New 52-Week High at $74.39

Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $74.39 and last traded at $74.10, with a volume of 103585 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.23.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.50, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were given a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MET. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 55,059,523 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,112,515,000 after purchasing an additional 578,699 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,584,674 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $838,383,000 after purchasing an additional 418,477 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 118.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $558,460,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,466,099 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $432,585,000 after buying an additional 436,260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

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.