Foster & Motley Inc. Cuts Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Foster & Motley Inc. decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,921 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the 3rd quarter valued at about $303,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 10.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,758 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 6.3% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the period. Finally, City Holding Co. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 5,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced 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. 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, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET traded up $0.85 during trading on Monday, reaching $71.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,817,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,551,052. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $52.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.50, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.95 and a 1-year high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About MetLife

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.