Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $13.87 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,794 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $13,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter worth $984,000. Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its position in MetLife by 33.5% during the first quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 12,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $941,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in MetLife by 110.5% during the first quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,811 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 64.5% during the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $535,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $70.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 969,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,375,384. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.02, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.13 and a 1-year high of $74.68.

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, meeting 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%. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. Argus increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.23.

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.