Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 223 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 223 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eley Financial Management Inc grew its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 61,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,083,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $70.52 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.40. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale 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 firm’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 directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.