Wells Fargo & Company Lowers MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $93.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $97.00 to $93.00 in a report released on Wednesday,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 23.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore set a $95.00 price target on MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 target price on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $94.91.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $75.09. The stock had a trading volume of 245,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,743,357. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.95. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $65.21 and a fifty-two week high of $87.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $425,000. SG Trading Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,000. MV Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth approximately $487,000. Finally, Wick Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

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.