MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $93.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $93.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MET. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $94.18.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $72.62 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $77.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.84. MetLife has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $85.00.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,680,000 after buying an additional 21,771 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter valued at $404,000. Finally, Burney Co. grew its position in MetLife by 1.3% during the second quarter. Burney Co. now owns 69,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,555,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

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.