MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in MetLife by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,090,000 after purchasing an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,468,000 after acquiring an additional 104,116 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after buying an additional 35,782 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MET. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.46.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded down $0.61 on Friday, hitting $74.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,138,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,187,697. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $76.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $71.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11.

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 the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

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.