MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $95.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target increased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $86.00 to $95.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 18.48% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.42.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.18. The stock had a trading volume of 443,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,436,277. The company has a market capitalization of $53.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.80 and its 200 day moving average is $80.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,931,536 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $973,901,000 after purchasing an additional 158,107 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $730,716,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $711,597,000 after purchasing an additional 36,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,410,000 after purchasing an additional 259,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% 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.