Braun Stacey Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 272,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 22,560 shares during the quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $19,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in MetLife by 41.1% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,165,769 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,225,676,000 after purchasing an additional 5,876,930 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in MetLife by 92.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,264,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $319,989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,149 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 296.5% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,497,828 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,038,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120,079 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth $63,934,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of MetLife by 309.7% during the first quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,364,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $95,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,277 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.15% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity at MetLife
In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 11,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.96, for a total value of $816,386.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,326,782.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
MetLife Price Performance
MetLife stock remained flat at $61.33 during midday trading on Monday. 142,296 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,887,040. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.83 and a 12-month high of $77.36. The stock has a market cap of $47.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.
MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $15.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.21 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 15.64% and a net margin of 3.63%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.24 EPS for the current year.
MetLife Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 8th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.26%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $79.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MetLife from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on MetLife from $79.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.
MetLife Profile
MetLife, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and institutional customers. It offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner’s insurance and retail banking services to individuals as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services.