Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Makes New $478,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In other MetLife news, 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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,452,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,526,182. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a PE ratio of 38.84, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50 day moving average of $71.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.35.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. 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.