RWA Wealth Partners LLC Has $472,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 29.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 4.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in MetLife by 12.0% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $397,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 45.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 110,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 34,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 243,840 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,381,000 after acquiring an additional 22,094 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE MET opened at $71.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.09. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

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.