Forte Capital LLC ADV Has $2.09 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Forte Capital LLC ADV trimmed its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 869 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after buying an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in MetLife by 806.2% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,752,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,790,000 after purchasing an additional 746,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth $38,669,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET traded up $0.28 on Friday, reaching $70.52. 3,361,215 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,164,878. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.