Apollon Wealth Management LLC Purchases 7,851 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 85.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,014 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,851 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its stake in MetLife by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 6,587 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 93,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,171,000 after buying an additional 7,227 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 11,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC raised its position in MetLife by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 6,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 7,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MET. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.92.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $71.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $50.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.48%.

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.