MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $93.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $93.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 30.67% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Barclays set a $90.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.18.

MetLife Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE MET traded down $2.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,049,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,970,130. The firm has a market cap of $46.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $85.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $77.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter worth about $756,104,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in 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 period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $178,669,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 105.3% during 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 buying an additional 1,695,563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.