MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Raised to $102.00 at UBS Group

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price upped by analysts at UBS Group from $98.00 to $102.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 36.62% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MET. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $91.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.67.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE MET traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $74.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,715,046 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,939,840. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.06. MetLife has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.38% and a return on equity of 21.81%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 545,795 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,085,000 after buying an additional 126,722 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in MetLife by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 13,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 611,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,284,000 after buying an additional 25,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $181,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Company Profile

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.