MetLife (NYSE:MET) PT Raised to $82.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target suggests a potential upside of 18.09% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on MET. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of MET traded down $0.70 on Monday, hitting $69.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,722,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,589,759. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $70.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.62. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $48.95 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). MetLife had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The business had revenue of $18.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MetLife

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 11.4% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 17,847 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,829 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth $225,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 179.7% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 540,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $37,957,000 after buying an additional 346,999 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 937.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 5,861 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 5,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 114.5% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

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.