MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Stock Holdings Lessened by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 172,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,144 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $11,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 10.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $614,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 47,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after buying an additional 6,294 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.0% in the third quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 12,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 2.5% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $72.23 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

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.