Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Has $861,000 Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in MetLife were worth $861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth $264,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 127,003 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,865 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.6% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 47,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 155.3% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,088 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 13.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,938,609 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $136,071,000 after purchasing an additional 226,784 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MET shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.46.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $85.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.22. The company has a market cap of $59.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.61 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.