MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Holdings Boosted by City Holding Co.

City Holding Co. boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 17.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,325 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the first quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MET shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of 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. raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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, July 18th. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.77.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7 %

MetLife stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $70.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,017,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,361,339. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.22. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $79.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $49.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Company Profile

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.