MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $97.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would suggest a potential upside of 24.86% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MET. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $94.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.58.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $77.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,282,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,358,657. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. MetLife's quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $711,597,000 after purchasing an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,410,000 after purchasing an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.