South Dakota Investment Council Lowers Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,948 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in MetLife were worth $6,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eley Financial Management Inc raised its position in MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in MetLife by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 61,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MET traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.39. The stock had a trading volume of 1,120,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,501,424. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The stock has a market cap of $52.34 billion, a PE ratio of 39.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. On average, research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler raised 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.