Cigna Investments Inc. New Has $441,000 Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cigna Investments Inc. New reduced its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,293 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 307 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in MetLife were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.9% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 2,313.7% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after buying an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.85.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8 %

MetLife stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $71.73. The stock had a trading volume of 3,904,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,368,134. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.24. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.91 and a 52 week high of $79.34. The stock has a market cap of $51.01 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife 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.