Blair William & Co. IL Sells 289 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 289 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Argus lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.46.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,138,769 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,339,674. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.68. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $76.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $53.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11.

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 net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.