Everpar Advisors LLC Makes New $525,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Eley Financial Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the third quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 61,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,083,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were 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 owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.92.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,146,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,554,144. The firm has a market cap of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $48.95 and a one year high of $74.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.48%.

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.