MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Purchased by Navalign LLC

Navalign LLC grew its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 179.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,957,000 after purchasing an additional 346,999 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in MetLife by 937.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in MetLife by 114.5% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $74.11. 2,591,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,777,516. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.39. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.88.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted 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 business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.23.

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.