Everpar Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 118.1% during 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 buying an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,087,000 after acquiring an additional 276,364 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,763,000 after acquiring an additional 17,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,468,000 after acquiring an additional 104,116 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 15.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,724,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $234,327,000 after acquiring an additional 495,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.92.

MetLife Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.07 on Tuesday, reaching $71.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,146,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,554,144. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.76 and a 200-day moving average of $67.65. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. MetLife’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 71.48%.

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.