Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Buys New Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,170 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the 4th 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 period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in MetLife by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after purchasing an additional 806,711 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.17.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $79.50. 1,617,752 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,365,826. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $53.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.10.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.