Mather Group LLC. Grows Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 118.1% during the 3rd 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 during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of MetLife by 806.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $52,752,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after purchasing an additional 746,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 2.3 %

MetLife stock opened at $70.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.37%. MetLife’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.