Brighton Jones LLC Sells 238 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Brighton Jones LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,673 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 238 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 4,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 24,351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,610,000 after purchasing an additional 4,752 shares in the last quarter. Intrust Bank NA boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Intrust Bank NA now owns 32,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $750,000. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 4,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE MET opened at $70.52 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.40. The stock has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $74.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.23.

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.