Cullinan Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Cullinan Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 79.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 136,502 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $2,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MetLife by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,090,000 after acquiring an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,468,000 after acquiring an additional 104,116 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $176,304,000 after acquiring an additional 240,564 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $132,641,000 after buying an additional 35,782 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.23.

MetLife Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $70.04 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.26 and a 200 day moving average of $70.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.13 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 74.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.