3,359 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Acquired by W Advisors LLC

W Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 74,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,940,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $214,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.28 during midday 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 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.45. 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 firm has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

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.