Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Acquires 263 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 263 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in MetLife were worth $185,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in 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 buying an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $52,752,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 54.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,790,000 after purchasing an additional 746,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at about $38,669,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MetLife

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 value of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 this link. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now 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 through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $72.72 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.06. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. Equities analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

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.