Navalign LLC Buys 499 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Navalign LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the quarter. Navalign LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 602.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.0 %

MET stock traded up $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.48. 4,644,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,342,165. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $55.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.71. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $57.91 and a 1-year high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 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 $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Argus increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

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.