Sunflower Bank N.A. Raises Stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,578 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 244.4% in the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 374.3% during the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 177.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MET. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $1.69 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $81.94. 3,510,082 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,158,149. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.61 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.03.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.95%.

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.