MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $80.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price lifted by Argus from $77.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of MetLife from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Saturday, May 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $79.08.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $72.54 on Wednesday. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $49.38 and a fifty-two week high of $74.68. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $68.72. The company has a market capitalization of $51.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.09.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.73 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 3.50% and a return on equity of 20.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

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

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of MetLife stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 146,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 678.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 287,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,000,000 after purchasing an additional 250,402 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in MetLife by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,824,596 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $120,661,000 after acquiring an additional 293,925 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in MetLife by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,664,012 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $176,304,000 after acquiring an additional 240,564 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in MetLife by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 742,302 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,088,000 after acquiring an additional 86,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 50.0% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 8,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.