MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Cut to $98.00 by Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $100.00 to $98.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.17.

MetLife Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $82.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.98. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $67.04 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. The company has a market cap of $57.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 244.4% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 131.9% during the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 374.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% 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.