MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $98.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $94.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays cut their price target on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.85.

MetLife Trading Down 9.5 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $68.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. MetLife has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.41 and its 200-day moving average is $82.90.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities research analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. CX Institutional lifted its position in MetLife by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 109.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,116,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in MetLife by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,559,000 after acquiring an additional 12,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $259,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MetLife Company Profile

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.