MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $102.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $98.00 to $102.00 in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MET has been the topic of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “moderate buy” rating and issued a $87.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $73.98 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.97. MetLife has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $83.85. The company has a market capitalization of $48.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 105.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,424,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,563 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in MetLife by 173.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,894 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.