MetLife (NYSE:MET) PT Lowered to $82.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price target decreased by Piper Sandler from $85.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Piper Sandler’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.07% from the stock’s current price.

MET has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of MetLife from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.92.

MetLife Stock Up 0.1 %

MET stock opened at $71.26 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. MetLife has a twelve month low of $48.95 and a twelve month high of $74.68. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.76 and its 200-day moving average is $67.65.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The business had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife will post 8.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MetLife by 42.2% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 72,792 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,579,000 after buying an additional 21,613 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 16.3% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 91,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,518,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

About MetLife

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.