Sweeney & Michel LLC Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $469,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $558,460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of MetLife by 20.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,425,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $1.25 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.75. 2,438,820 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,312,364. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $77.12. The company has a market cap of $54.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.11. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $71.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler cut their price target 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. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.08.

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.