MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $94.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $91.00 to $94.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

MET has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.69.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET opened at $76.51 on Tuesday. 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 capitalization of $51.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.51 and a 200 day moving average of $81.36. MetLife has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. North Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.