Hancock Whitney Corp Sells 298 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Hancock Whitney Corp decreased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 43,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SVB Wealth LLC grew its position in MetLife by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 10,115 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 15,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 5.0% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 138,113 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,577 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.4% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,962 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co purchased a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter worth $596,000. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of MetLife in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.46.

MetLife Stock Up 0.9 %

MetLife stock opened at $87.36 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.18. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.81 and a 1-year high of $87.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 43.95%.

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.