MetLife (NYSE:MET) PT Raised to $86.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $83.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Argus upped their price target on MetLife from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $80.46.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $74.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $57.91 and a fifty-two week high of $76.90. The firm has a market cap of $53.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.79.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. The company had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank bought a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at about $558,460,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 3.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after acquiring an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $131,456,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,053,851 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $268,090,000 after acquiring an additional 700,788 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,120,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after acquiring an additional 485,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% 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.