Signaturefd LLC Sells 720 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Signaturefd LLC lowered its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 720 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,087,000 after purchasing an additional 276,364 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,763,000 after purchasing an additional 17,375 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,774,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $237,430,000 after purchasing an additional 22,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,724,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,327,000 after purchasing an additional 495,027 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

MET opened at $72.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $52.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average of $67.02. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

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.