MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,312 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 356 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $444,205,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 118.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,957,000 after buying an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,761,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 806.2% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $100,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 309.7% in the 1st quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,364,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $95,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031,277 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $68.93 on Wednesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $74.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $49.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.67, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $70.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.66.

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

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. 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 report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

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.