Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Has $374,000 Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in MetLife were worth $374,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MET. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 678.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after acquiring an additional 293,925 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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 valued at $176,304,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in MetLife by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,088,000 after purchasing an additional 86,091 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 35,782 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $69.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 995,704 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,334,602. 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 one year low of $52.97 and a one year high of $74.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $71.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.75. The stock has a market cap of $49.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.12.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th were given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.08.

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.