Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 87,449 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,674,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,449 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.23% of MetLife worth $110,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of MetLife by 11.4% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 179.7% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,957,000 after purchasing an additional 346,999 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 937.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 114.5% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of MET opened at $68.93 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.95 and a 12 month high of $74.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $49.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. Equities analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MET. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. UBS Group reduced 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were 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 owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.