Burney Co. Cuts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Burney Co. lowered its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,168 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,267 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $422,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 39.1% in the 4th quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,560 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $628,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association increased its stake in MetLife by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 9,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife by 140.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 52,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,301,000 after buying an additional 30,682 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE MET traded up $0.74 on Friday, hitting $78.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,227,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,364,521. The business's fifty day moving average price is $78.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.72. The stock has a market cap of $52.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MET. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

MetLife Company 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.