Jefferies Financial Group Raises MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $103.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $100.00 to $103.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.54% from the stock’s current price.

MET has been the topic of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $98.00 target price (down previously from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.00.

MetLife Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MET opened at $76.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $50.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $77.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.90. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, April 30th that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 198.2% during the second quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.