Analysts Set MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Price Target at $95.15

Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.1538.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MET shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 0.9% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after acquiring an additional 477,783 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 1.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MET opened at $83.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.05 and a 200 day moving average of $76.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $85.29.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.66% and a return on equity of 22.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 12th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.93%.

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.