7,742 Shares in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Acquired by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $1.28 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.70. 3,966,855 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,534,419. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.28. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.