Stevens Capital Management LP Sells 18,602 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Stevens Capital Management LP lessened its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 49.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,396 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,602 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 10.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 15.2% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 47,646 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 6,294 shares during the period. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 5.0% during the third quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 12,592 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew 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 valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $1.48 on Friday, reaching $70.42. 5,586,911 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,532,651. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $71.41 and a 200 day moving average of $67.09. The company has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.29, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.66%.

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.