MetLife (NYSE:MET) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:METGet Free Report)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $91.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $83.18, but opened at $76.57. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MetLife shares last traded at $77.81, with a volume of 541,401 shares traded.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on MetLife from $86.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on MetLife from $89.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.38.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MET

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in MetLife by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,622,348 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,418,612,000 after buying an additional 1,974,268 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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 worth $378,799,000 after acquiring an additional 988,666 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,299,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $371,993,000 after acquiring an additional 269,246 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in MetLife by 3.2% during 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 period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in MetLife by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,772,751 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $205,544,000 after purchasing an additional 108,739 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.0 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $54.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:METGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.41% and a net margin of 5.27%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.58 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 5th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.95%.

About MetLife

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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.

Further Reading

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