Hancock Whitney Corp Decreases Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,343 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 298 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in MetLife by 5.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 2,063,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,845,000 after acquiring an additional 16,985 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in MetLife by 5.3% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,970,163 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $162,499,000 after purchasing an additional 99,328 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of MET stock opened at $87.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $60.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.81 and a 52 week high of $87.64.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $88.46.

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.