Argyle Capital Management LLC Acquires 1,483 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Argyle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,548,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $375,179,000 after buying an additional 68,579 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,238,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,735,000 after buying an additional 608,224 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in MetLife by 76.0% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after buying an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,274,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,096,000 after acquiring an additional 114,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

MetLife Stock Up 1.9 %

MetLife stock opened at $84.08 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $67.30 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $58.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

About MetLife

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.