Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 47,543 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Posted by on Jun 13th, 2023

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) by 74.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 47,543 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in MetLife were worth $8,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 40,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,954,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. now owns 33,099 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,395,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $295,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,737,000. Finally, New Vernon Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,174,000. 88.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $54.01 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $48.95 and a 52-week high of $77.36. The stock has a market cap of $41.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.61 and its 200-day moving average is $64.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13.

MetLife (NYSE:MET – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 3rd. The financial services provider reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $16.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.84 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 7.74 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be given a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 8th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.69%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 7.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MET. TheStreet cut shares of MetLife from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on MetLife from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 12th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $68.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, May 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.33.

MetLife Company Profile

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MetLife, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and institutional customers. It offers life insurance, annuities, automobile and homeowner’s insurance and retail banking services to individuals as well as group insurance, reinsurance and retirement and savings products and services.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for MetLife (NYSE:MET)

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