MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Increased to $86.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded MetLife from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.85.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $69.85 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $49.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.24. MetLife has a 12-month low of $57.91 and a 12-month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $558,460,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,396,274 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $378,799,000 after purchasing an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of MetLife by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,878,238 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,468,000 after purchasing an additional 104,116 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,224,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,358,000 after purchasing an additional 100,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

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.