MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,715,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 220,911 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $113,439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 4.1% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in MetLife by 12.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at $397,000. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in MetLife by 45.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 110,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after buying an additional 34,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 4.3% in the third quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 25,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. 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 research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

MET traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $70.42. The company had a trading volume of 5,650,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,510. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.15. The company has a market cap of $50.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month 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 issued 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). The company 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 research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.