MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Position Lifted by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 848,196 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 60,364 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.11% of MetLife worth $56,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 118.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $635,957,000 after buying an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $468,087,000 after acquiring an additional 276,364 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,965 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $366,763,000 after purchasing an additional 17,375 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,774,122 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $237,430,000 after purchasing an additional 22,031 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in MetLife by 15.3% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,724,805 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $234,327,000 after purchasing an additional 495,027 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MET. UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $71.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,966,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,534,419. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.66%.

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.