Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Raises Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 26.4% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% in the third quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MetLife Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE MET opened at $71.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $51.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

MetLife Company 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.