MetLife (NYSE:MET) Sets New 12-Month High at $74.39

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $74.39 and last traded at $74.10, with a volume of 103585 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.23.

MetLife Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $53.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03. 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 50-day moving average price of $69.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.82.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, 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 firm’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 sale, 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 1.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 55,059,523 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,112,515,000 after purchasing an additional 578,699 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in MetLife by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,584,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $838,383,000 after acquiring an additional 418,477 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $558,460,000. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,466,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,585,000 after purchasing an additional 436,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.