Dover Advisors LLC Sells 1,083 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Dover Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,083 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. Convergence Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 16,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $207,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in MetLife by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 848,196 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,101,000 after buying an additional 60,364 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of MET stock traded down $1.48 on Friday, hitting $70.42. 5,650,572 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,506,510. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.44 and a 200 day moving average of $67.22. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’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 value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’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 owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife 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.