Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 33,144 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 172,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 33,144 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MetLife were worth $11,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 806.2% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,840 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $52,752,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,790,000 after acquiring an additional 746,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at $38,669,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MET opened at $72.23 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.02. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

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.