Corebridge Financial Inc. Sells 4,555 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Corebridge Financial Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 3.4%, now holding 129,122 shares worth approximately $10.37 million.
• MetLife's latest earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.02, missing estimates, with a net margin of 5.83% and revenue down 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company has authorized a $3 billion share buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Corebridge Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,555 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.'s holdings in MetLife were worth $10,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,410,000 after buying an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,816,000 after buying an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after buying an additional 236,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

MET stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.41. 2,759,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,358,362. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.17 and its 200-day moving average is $78.44. The company has a market cap of $54.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is 38.47%.

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.