Rise Advisors LLC Has $41,000 Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 114.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the quarter. Rise Advisors LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $41,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 6.9% in the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 75,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. acquired a new position in MetLife during the first quarter valued at $4,603,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 10,053 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $745,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 13,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:MET opened at $70.85 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.14 and its 200-day moving average is $69.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.97 and a 12 month high of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $50.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MET shares. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Argus upped their target price on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.08.

MetLife Company 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.