MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $86.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target decreased by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $87.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 20.20% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.92.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.55. The stock had a trading volume of 771,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,525,501. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $71.71 and a 200-day moving average of $67.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $50.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. MetLife has a 12-month low of $48.95 and a 12-month high of $74.68.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at MetLife

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total value of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in MetLife by 7.6% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 146,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,827,000 after buying an additional 10,300 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 1.8% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 27,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of MetLife by 11.0% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 9,543 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $707,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $421,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in MetLife by 144.3% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 106,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,906,000 after acquiring an additional 347,547 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Company Profile

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.