Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 29.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. MetLife makes up 1.0% of Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Silverberg Bernstein Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded down $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.86. 2,235,462 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,394,015. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.93. The firm has a market cap of $52.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management 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 $0.5675 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.17.

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.