Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Has $1.35 Million Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 57.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,834 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,866 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MET. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.17.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.71. The stock had a trading volume of 3,161,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,378,686. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $77.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.20. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $53.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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.