WASHINGTON TRUST Co Acquires 500 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 80.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in MetLife were worth $79,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 5,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 101.4% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,652 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 24,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Argus lifted their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.85.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $70.41. 3,249,353 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,352,275. MetLife, Inc. has a 1 year low of $57.91 and a 1 year high of $79.34. The company has a market capitalization of $50.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $71.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.24.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

MetLife 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.