Freestone Grove Partners LP Makes New $13.02 Million Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 159,014 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $13,020,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. CX Institutional increased its position in MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 2,940 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MET. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price 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. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.69.

MetLife Stock Up 0.5 %

MetLife stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 874,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,382,394. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $77.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.36. The company has a market capitalization of $51.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. 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 announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

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

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.