Cornerstone Advisors LLC Has $2.88 Million Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 114.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MET. Piper Sandler cut their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.46.

MetLife Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MET traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,138,770 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,187,697. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $76.90.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.