Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Buys 603 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in MetLife were worth $136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in MetLife by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,584,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $838,383,000 after purchasing an additional 418,477 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the third 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. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,466,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,585,000 after acquiring an additional 436,260 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in MetLife by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $468,087,000 after acquiring an additional 276,364 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $444,205,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE MET opened at $69.95 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.70. 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 market cap of $50.58 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife 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.