Comerica Bank Has $16.77 Million Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Comerica Bank lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 204,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 19,767 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in MetLife were worth $16,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Evergreen Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 5,761 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in MetLife by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 793,289 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $64,955,000 after buying an additional 89,464 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 13,840 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MET traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $77.06. 827,943 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,728,708. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.81 billion, a PE ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.51 and a 200-day moving average of $81.36.

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

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.69.

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.