Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. lessened its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 23.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in MetLife by 11.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth about $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 179.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,957,000 after purchasing an additional 346,999 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 937.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 114.5% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MetLife

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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.88 on Thursday, hitting $69.80. 167,379 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,527,074. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.47 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

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.