Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Buys 565 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 565 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in MetLife by 0.9% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 91,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Graypoint LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in MetLife by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 8,405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in MetLife by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 928,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $71.66 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.76 and a 200-day moving average of $67.65. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $50.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 is available at this link. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.