MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Bought by Cadence Bank

Cadence Bank increased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in MetLife were worth $777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.08.

MetLife Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.00. 2,385,113 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,328,661. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $76.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.95.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

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.