Redwood Investment Management LLC Sells 3,037 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Redwood Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,037 shares during the quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. CX Institutional lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after buying an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in MetLife by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $259,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $80.42 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.69.

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.