AJOVista LLC Acquires New Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

AJOVista LLC bought a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,128 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $141,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MET. W Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 74,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.52. 3,361,215 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,164,878. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.45.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

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.