Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 65,763 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 65,763 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of MetLife worth $30,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eley Financial Management Inc raised its holdings in MetLife by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 4,920 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 61,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,083,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’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 value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $71.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.65.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. 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 is presently 71.48%.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

About MetLife

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.