MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $96.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective increased by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $95.00 to $96.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 23.43% from the stock’s current price.

MET has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “moderate buy” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.31.

MetLife Stock Performance

MET stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.78. The company had a trading volume of 453,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,746,271. The firm has a market cap of $50.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $83.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 105.3% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in MetLife by 173.4% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

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.