Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of MetLife by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,584,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $838,383,000 after purchasing an additional 418,477 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,466,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,585,000 after buying an additional 436,260 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.9% in 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 buying an additional 276,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $444,205,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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 target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $71.11 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.77. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company has a market capitalization of $51.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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.

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.