EP Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 199.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,465 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 10,969 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 9,464 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $781,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 1.0% in the third quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 12,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA grew its stake in MetLife by 0.8% in the third quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 16,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 3.2% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Professionals Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 6,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. TD Cowen upped their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $88.62.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.51 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.77. 3,914,271 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,311,599. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.13. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.17 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.95%.

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.