CENTRAL TRUST Co Increases Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 925 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MetLife by 7.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter worth about $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 85.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,270,000 after buying an additional 607,333 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET opened at $80.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.