Community Bank N.A. Trims Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Community Bank N.A. lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 118.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in MetLife by 806.2% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,752,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 54.1% in the 3rd 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 purchased a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:MET traded down $1.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $71.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,737,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,491,109. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year 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 0.53. The company has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.06.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly 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 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 analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. Analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other MetLife 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 $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of 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 increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.