Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Price

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $101.00 to $109.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.58.

MetLife Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of MET opened at $86.16 on Friday. MetLife has a 12 month low of $67.30 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $59.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. Equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.52%.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter worth $62,265,000. Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $738,000. REAP Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.