MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Shares Acquired by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 31.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $278,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 678 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $585,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 3,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $254,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in MetLife by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 18,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group lowered their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Trading Up 1.8 %

MET stock opened at $71.70 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $51.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.18, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.28.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 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 approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.