Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its stake in MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 1.1%

MetLife stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.50. The stock had a trading volume of 711,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,713,727. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $54.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business's 50 day moving average price is $77.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.18.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.69.

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.