MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $85.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $86.00 to $85.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $73.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,046,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,369,482. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.28. MetLife has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $79.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in MetLife during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 89.81% of the stock is currently 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.