DGS Capital Management LLC Sells 393 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

DGS Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 6.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 393 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus boosted their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.08.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $70.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.05. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $53.92 and a 52 week high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

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.