Morgan Stanley Raises MetLife (NYSE:MET) Price Target to $82.00

MetLife (NYSE:MET) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MET. UBS Group dropped their target price on MetLife from $87.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised MetLife from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on MetLife from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on MetLife from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $79.23.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $68.92 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The business has a 50 day moving average of $70.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.68. MetLife has a 52 week low of $48.95 and a 52 week high of $74.68. The company has a market cap of $49.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The financial services provider reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $18.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.07 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 2.36%. As a group, analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at $10,567,933.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other MetLife news, EVP Bill Pappas sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $1,951,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,174,893.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ramy Tadros sold 4,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.90, for a total transaction of $289,469.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 146,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,567,933.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 13,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at about $407,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 18.9% in the first quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 5,966 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Norwood Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.2% in the first quarter. Norwood Financial Corp now owns 1,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.0% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 5,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.81% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Company Profile

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.