MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $109.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 26.51% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.58.

MetLife Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $86.16 on Friday. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $67.30 and a fifty-two week high of $89.05. 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 company has a market cap of $58.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $83.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.91.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 244.4% during the 3rd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% 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.