MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives $95.08 Average PT from Analysts

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.4167.

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. Quaker Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 198.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in MetLife by 790.0% in the third quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Down 1.5%

MetLife stock opened at $76.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $50.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife has a twelve month low of $65.21 and a twelve month high of $88.09.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.