Meyer Handelman Co. lowered its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Free Report) by 18.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,635 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,400 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,630,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $366,524,000 after acquiring an additional 117,545 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $8,091,000. Strs Ohio raised its stake in MetLife by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,742,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in MetLife by 93.5% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 33,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,777,000 after purchasing an additional 16,288 shares during the period. Finally, Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 666,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,888,000 after purchasing an additional 71,781 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MET has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America reduced their target price on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.62.
MetLife Price Performance
MET stock opened at $84.51 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $89.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.
MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
MetLife Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.5925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 45.93%.
Key Headlines Impacting MetLife
Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:
- Negative Sentiment: World Cup coverage has highlighted complaints from players about the turf at MetLife Stadium, with some praising other venues and “trashing MetLife,” reinforcing criticism of the stadium’s field conditions. World Cup players split on turf, praising SoFi while trashing MetLife
- Negative Sentiment: Additional reports said NFL players blasted the MetLife turf, keeping the criticism of the stadium in the spotlight and potentially weighing on brand perception. NFL players blast MetLife turf as World Cup grass fuels debate
- Neutral Sentiment: There were also upbeat event-related headlines, including fans packing MetLife Stadium for World Cup matches and excitement around high-profile games, which supports strong attendance and traffic but does not directly change MetLife’s fundamentals. Ecuador, Germany fans pack MetLife for World Cup group match
- Neutral Sentiment: MetLife also had corporate visibility from a new study on resilience and confidence, plus coverage of its broader “confident futures” initiative, but these are mainly brand/PR updates rather than clear near-term stock movers. New MetLife Study Reveals a 72% “Confidence Gap” in Ability to Recover from Life’s Setbacks
- Neutral Sentiment: Reports about ticket prices, offsite tailgates, weather delays, and player arrivals at MetLife Stadium are mostly event noise and do not materially affect the insurer’s core business. What do tickets cost for the England vs. Panama World Cup match at MetLife?
MetLife Profile
MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.
In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.
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