Bailard Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 118.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in MetLife by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,087,000 after acquiring an additional 276,364 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in MetLife by 0.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,763,000 after acquiring an additional 17,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,774,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,430,000 after acquiring an additional 22,031 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 15.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,724,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,327,000 after acquiring an additional 495,027 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped 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. Two 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, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the 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 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. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MetLife Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of MET opened at $70.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $74.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $71.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. 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. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.66%.

About MetLife

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.