Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC Has $1.17 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after purchasing an additional 6,213,923 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $577,434,000 after purchasing an additional 958,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $81.25 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.69.

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.