Principle Wealth Partners LLC Invests $207,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife 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 transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE MET opened at $71.70 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68. The stock has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.28.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

MetLife Company 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.