Norwood Financial Corp Acquires 500 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Norwood Financial Corp boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 43.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Norwood Financial Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Planned Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 114.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Argus increased their target price 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 dropped 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. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. One 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.92.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MET traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $70.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,434,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,392,953. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.18 and a 52-week high of $74.68. The firm has a market cap of $49.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 company earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

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

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.