Connectus Wealth LLC Has $5.44 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Connectus Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 36.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,134 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 22,158 shares during the period. Connectus Wealth LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $5,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 678.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of MetLife by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $120,661,000 after buying an additional 293,925 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of MetLife by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $49,088,000 after buying an additional 86,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $132,641,000 after buying an additional 35,782 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MET stock traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $70.05. 2,387,056 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,589,718. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.97 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Insider Activity at MetLife

In related news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MET. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.08.

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.