Community Bank N.A. Sells 550 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Community Bank N.A. decreased its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 118.1% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $635,957,000 after purchasing an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in MetLife by 806.2% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,607,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $100,152,000 after buying an additional 1,429,840 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth approximately $52,752,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 54.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,126,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,790,000 after buying an additional 746,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth approximately $38,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MET traded down $1.13 on Thursday, hitting $71.59. 1,737,390 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,491,109. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. 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 50 day simple moving average of $71.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.06. The company has a market cap of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 39.74, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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.