NewEdge Wealth LLC Purchases 615 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,466 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 26.4% during the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $69.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $50.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.70.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MET. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

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.