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

Hancock Whitney Corp reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,641 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,508 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in MetLife were worth $3,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $131,456,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 7,837.0% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,129,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $79,250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,124 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,811 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $80.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.63. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $81.39.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.41% and a net margin of 4.23%. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. MetLife’s payout ratio is 74.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on MetLife in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

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.