Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Buys Shares of 6,455 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,455 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,452,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,526,182. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $67.35. The firm has a market cap of $51.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.84, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

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 business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

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.