MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Rating Lowered by Piper Sandler

Key Points

• Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an "overweight" to a "neutral" rating, setting a price target of $84.00, which indicates a potential upside of 6.16% from its current stock price.
• MetLife's recent earnings report revealed a missed EPS estimate of $2.02 compared to an expectation of $2.32, along with a drop in revenue year-over-year.
• Despite the downgrade, the overall sentiment remains relatively positive, with one analyst rating it as a Strong Buy and an average price target of $94.64.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $84.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock. Piper Sandler's price target points to a potential upside of 4.16% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MET. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on MetLife from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.64.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $80.65. 1,022,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,414,054. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $78.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.08. The company has a market capitalization of $53.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.67, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business'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. Analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 4.8% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 52.1% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 20.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $516,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.