Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $16.84 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,726 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $16,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.5% in the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 2.9% in the first quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 6,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at $676,000. Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 1.8% in the first quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 242,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,510,000 after purchasing an additional 4,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 8.9% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 7,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:MET opened at $77.22 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $76.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.62. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.17.

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.