Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Grows Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MET. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 678.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,000,000 after buying an additional 250,402 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after buying an additional 293,925 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,088,000 after buying an additional 86,091 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 50.0% during the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 2,952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $71.87 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.61 and a 200 day moving average of $67.38. 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 stock has a market cap of $51.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 113.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’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 transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.