MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target Lowered to $98.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective decreased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $100.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.17.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET opened at $82.77 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $83.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.98. MetLife has a 52-week low of $67.04 and a 52-week high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.63 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors 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 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.52%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.9% in the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,568,000 after purchasing an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of MetLife by 48,101.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,746,000 after purchasing an additional 105,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of MetLife in the third quarter worth $1,074,000. 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.