Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 38.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 204,754 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 129,327 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $13,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in MetLife by 118.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 806.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,752,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 54.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after buying an additional 746,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,669,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

MetLife stock opened at $70.52 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $71.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. 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 3.09%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.48%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.