Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 686 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp decreased its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new position in MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife 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 owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MET. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. 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 note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.72. 2,060,451 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,514,255. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 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 the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.