MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $88.00 by Analysts at Barclays

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MET has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.46.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $71.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.94, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.89. MetLife has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.32 and a 200 day moving average of $82.46.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,466,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $283,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,496,645 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.