Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $123,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 179.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,957,000 after purchasing an additional 346,999 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 937.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 114.5% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.11. 3,346,091 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,499,338. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $71.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.77.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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.

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.