MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC

Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,227 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $676,000. Verity & Verity LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 242,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,510,000 after buying an additional 4,324 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 7,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 146,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,799,000 after buying an additional 4,377 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $77.22 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.21 and a 1 year high of $89.05. The firm 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.57.

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

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued 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.

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.