Raymond James & Associates Buys 4,414 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 751,696 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,414 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned 0.10% of MetLife worth $55,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MetLife

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

MET traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $70.52. 3,361,215 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,164,878. The stock has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.45.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

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.