Advantage Trust Co Purchases New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prossimo Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 10,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $699,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 10,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in MetLife by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,329,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,939,000 after buying an additional 29,467 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $525,000. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.88 during trading on Thursday, hitting $72.54. The company had a trading volume of 2,752,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,535,352. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $71.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.68.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.48%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.