MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.23.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MET shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $70.42 on Friday. MetLife has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.44 and its 200 day moving average is $67.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $50.92 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 113.66%.

Insider Activity

In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 8,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eley Financial Management Inc boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 16,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.