OLD National Bancorp IN Sells 850 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

OLD National Bancorp IN decreased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,125 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 850 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in MetLife were worth $670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,108,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $635,957,000 after acquiring an additional 5,474,449 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in MetLife by 3.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,440,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $468,087,000 after purchasing an additional 276,364 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in MetLife by 0.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,829,965 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $366,763,000 after purchasing an additional 17,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,774,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,430,000 after purchasing an additional 22,031 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in MetLife by 15.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,724,805 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $234,327,000 after purchasing an additional 495,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $72.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. MetLife, Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The stock has a market cap of $52.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.28 and its 200 day moving average is $67.02.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.545 dividend. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 113.66%.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, 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 transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MET. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.23.

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.