Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co has acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the fourth quarter, as revealed in their latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $749,000.
Several other institutional investors have also recently adjusted their positions in MetLife. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in MetLife shares by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, now owning 86,719 shares worth $7,101,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. established a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter, valued at $55,000. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% during the same period, now owning 2,707 shares worth $222,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in MetLife valued at approximately $13,020,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in MetLife shares by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, now owning 7,093 shares valued at $581,000.
Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.99% of MetLife’s stock. Various brokerages have recently commented on MET stock. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on MetLife shares in a report on March 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and assigned an “overweight” rating in a research report on April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife with a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on January 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 while maintaining an “overweight” rating in a report on April 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and assigned a “buy” rating in a report on April 2nd. Currently, two analysts have rated the stock as “hold,” while thirteen have assigned a “buy” rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.46.
MetLife’s stock opened at $77.84 on Friday, with the company having a market capitalization of $53.03 billion. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ending April 30th, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.04. MetLife had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, surpassing analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. The company’s revenue increased by 15.6% year-over-year.
MetLife recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on June 10th to investors of record on May 6th. The dividend amounts to $0.5675 per share, representing a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The company’s board has also approved a stock buyback program permitting the repurchase of $3.00 billion in shares.
