Truist Financial Corp Trims Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its MetLife stake by 11.8%, selling 69,197 shares and finishing the quarter with 517,977 shares worth about $40.9 million (0.08% of MetLife).
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" on MET with an average price target of $93.38, while individual firms have mixed revisions (e.g., UBS raised its target to $102; TD Cowen, BofA and Morgan Stanley trimmed theirs).
• MetLife recently beat quarterly expectations (EPS $2.49 vs. $2.34 est.), raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37, ~3.0% yield), and trades at a P/E of 17 with a ~$52.1 billion market cap.

Truist Financial Corp cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 517,977 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 69,197 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned 0.08% of MetLife worth $40,889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in MetLife by 205.8% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 790.0% in the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 58.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 383 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MET. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.38.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $79.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $52.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.33 and a 52-week high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be issued a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.30%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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