MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective increased by research analysts at UBS Group from $98.00 to $102.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 37.87% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “moderate buy” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $93.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Evercore set a $95.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Mizuho set a $100.00 price objective on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.50.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $73.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average of $76.99. MetLife has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $83.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $48.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.74.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $52.44 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 27.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MET. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $639,986,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during 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 last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 105.3% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,305,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $271,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 173.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,641,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $135,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

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.