HTLF Bank Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 5,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.4% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 179.7% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,957,000 after buying an additional 346,999 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in MetLife by 937.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,825 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at MetLife

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $71.11 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.12 and a 200-day moving average of $66.77. The stock has a market cap of $51.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 EPS 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 net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.