Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 920 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Merit Financial Group LLC lessened its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,114 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 2,966 shares during the period. Silver Lake Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 74,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,940,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 17,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares during the period. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group lowered their target price on 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 cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.92.

MetLife Price Performance

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

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 the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.