HTLF Bank Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

HTLF Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in MetLife by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 7,466,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $432,585,000 after buying an additional 436,260 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of MetLife by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,087,000 after buying an additional 276,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $444,205,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction dated 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. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Up 1.7 %

MET opened at $71.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $51.41 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $71.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $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). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.