MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $97.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.13% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MET. Barclays cut their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.58.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $82.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $83.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.26. MetLife has a 52 week low of $67.30 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $57.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.07.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 8.9% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its position in MetLife by 15.9% during 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 during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth approximately $2,960,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 48,101.4% during 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 during the period. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the third quarter worth approximately $1,074,000. Institutional investors 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.