LGT Group Foundation Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

LGT Group Foundation bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 806.2% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,152,000 after acquiring an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $52,752,000. FMR LLC raised its position in MetLife by 54.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after purchasing an additional 746,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the third quarter worth about $38,669,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other 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 value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $70.52 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.40.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 71.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MET. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.