First Horizon Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 383,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,183 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. owned 0.05% of MetLife worth $25,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

MetLife Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of MET traded down $2.59 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $69.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,274,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,530,430. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company 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 firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 113.66%.

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.