MetLife (NYSE:MET) Hits New 1-Year High at $74.39

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $74.39 and last traded at $74.10, with a volume of 103585 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $73.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MET shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $79.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.23.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $65.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.03.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.81 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 113.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MET. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth about $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,957,000 after acquiring an additional 346,999 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in MetLife by 937.3% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 5,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in MetLife by 114.5% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.