Concord Wealth Partners Has $296,000 Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Concord Wealth Partners cut its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,482 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 307 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners’ holdings in MetLife were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 456,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,213,000 after buying an additional 65,763 shares during the last quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $747,000. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 248,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,464,000 after purchasing an additional 23,212 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 4,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 24,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

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

MetLife Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $71.88 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.26 billion, a PE ratio of 39.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.61 and a 200-day moving average of $67.38. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $74.68. 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 (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 113.66%.

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.