Fifth Third Bancorp Sells 12,699 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Fifth Third Bancorp decreased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,699 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $10,437,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET opened at $77.22 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $51.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.17.

About MetLife

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.