Waldron Private Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $444,205,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,761,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in MetLife by 806.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its position in 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 valued at $95,881,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,277 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $69.44 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $50.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.62.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

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.